Not bad for a slytherin
by Eribeth Whitlock
Summary: It's the Trio's sixth year at Hogwarts and after the events of the year before, certain people start to respect them a bit more than before. This takes an unexpected twist as Hermione realises that not even Slytherins can be completely heartless.


**- Chapter One -**

_The Mysterious Smile_

"Hurry up, Hermione," Ron Weasley complained, scratching his nose. He leant against the open cabin door as Hermione Granger dragged her trunk onto the train.

"I cannot believe the luggage hold is full," Hermione panted, out of breath. "I'll probably have to sit on this stupid thing," she said, kicking the trunk. It slid reluctantly into the compartment and, to her great surprise, fitted neatly under the seat. "Oh thank God," she said and flopped down onto the comfortable seat.

"You're so late," Ron teased. "Never thought I'd be saying that to you." He and Harry Potter sat down opposite her and Ron leant his head against the window that overlooked Platform nine and three quarters.

"Oh, be quiet," Hermione said irritably. True, she was very late and had she been thirty seconds later she would have missed the train.

"At least you're here now," Ron said, fiddling with his prefect badge. "So, I'm sure you're dying to tell us, how did you do on your OWLs?"

"Well, I don't want to brag-" she began, avoiding her two best friends' eyes.

"Yeah, we know you do, Hermione. C'mon, just tell us. We won't feel inferior or anything," Harry said. Hermione relaxed slightly and she looked up, smiling at the two boys.

"Ok. I got O for everything," she said, blushing furiously.

"You got an O in every single thing?" Harry asked in mock amazement. Ron grinned.

"Well done," he said, patting her on the back. There was a small jolt as the train started. "Finally, we can get going," he said, looking out of the window and waving at his parents. Harry and Hermione joined him and waved at Mr and Mrs Weasley.

"Anyway, to more important matters. Harry, how have you been?" Hermione asked. Ron stopped smiling and looked nervously at his best friend. Harry had stayed with Ron for the last two weeks of the summer holidays and they had both reached an unspoken agreement not to mention Sirius. Harry shrugged.

"Alright, I guess. It's funny but I don't seem to grieve over Sirius that much. Maybe the shock hasn't just settled in. Or maybe because I had known him for such a little time. I'm not sure."

"Well, I suppose it's good that you're getting on with your life. Sirius wouldn't have wanted you to be miserable. None of us do," Hermione said gently. Ron nodded, as if at a loss for words.

"Thank you for both being here," Harry said. They all laughed at the unbelievable soppiness. They settled into a comfortable silence. Hermione absentmindedly plaited a lock of her hair. Ron watched the scenes flitting past the window, chewing his thumbnail. Harry, remembering something, laughed again. Hermione and Ron looked up at him.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Do you remember how Moody told me to write every three days, or he would personally come to Privet Drive and check up on me?"

"Oh, Harry. You didn't forget?" Hermione asked, horrified. Normally Ron and Harry would have laughed at her reaction, but the prospect of Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody turning up on your doorstep was quite spooky. However, Harry grinned mischeviously. Ron and Hermione smiled with him. If Harry, Ron and Hermione were afraid of Moody, they all relished the thought of what the Dursley's would do.

"Well, Dudley was treating me like crap. I could hardly stand for that anymore, could I?" Harry asked innocently. Ron laughed.

"What did the fat git do?" he asked eagerly.

"Now that's just being plain nasty," Hermione complained.

"Sure, sure it's nasty, Hermione. You've not had the pleasure of sharing a conversation or house with Dudley, have you?" Harry asked, rolling his eyes. Hermione smiled and shook her head, her bushy hair bouncing around her face. She rolled her eyes too and pushed her hair out of her eyes.

"So, c'mon tell us, I'm dying to know," Ron said, just as the compartment door slid open.

"Yeah, so am I," a voice drawled lazily from the doorway.

"You're not welcome here, Malfoy," Hermione said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, come on, I do have a first name, Hermione," he said, half-smiling at the pretty muggle-born girl. Only now was Hermione surprised to notice how Draco Malfoy wasn't actually that bad looking. She blinked, forcing the thought away.

_Hmm, not bad_, Draco thought to himself. Hermione was wearing slimming jeans with a small flare at the bottom and a fairly low cut black top with three-quarter length sleeves. She wasn't wearing any makeup and Draco was surprised to find himself thinking that she didn't need to.

"Well, considering you've never even heard or cared about my life, I suggest you disappear. Now," Harry said fiercely.

"Potter," Draco said, looking at Harry through narrowed eyes.

"What?" Harry challenged. Draco's face relaxed.

"Just wanted to say, I'm sorry about your godfather," he replied. Harry raised an eyebrow in amazement. "Honestly. Thought I should apologise because it's partly my father's fault," Draco said, smiling sympathetically at the trio before closing the compartment door and stalking off down the corridor. Hermione and Ron looked at Harry, gobsmacked.

"Since when was ... Is he your ... What just happened?" Ron asked, his eyes wide and full of surprise. Harry turned to look at Ron, his mouth hanging open. Hermione shook her head, as if waking up from a strange dream.

"Did- did Draco Malfoy, your one sworn enemy ... Was he just nice to you?" she asked disbelievingly. Harry looked at Hermione, the same gormless expression on his face. She started to giggle. "You'd catch flies if you kept your face like that," she said, smiling.

"That had to be some sort of joke," Ron said. Hermione shook her head.

"No, it seemed pretty genuine. I almost have the urge to go find him to ask," she said.

"No don't," Harry said, speaking for the first time in a good few minutes. "Why would he apologise? And feel sorry for me?"

"Maybe now that Lucius Malfoy's in prison, Draco's been a bit more free and has started to realise that being nasty isn't everything?" Hermione suggested.

"Maybe he just fancies you, Hermione," Ron said. Hermione laughed.

"Not a chance in hell," she said. Harry pondered for a moment.

"No, Ron could be right. I saw him checking you out," he said. Hermione's brow furrowed, creasing her face.

"I doubt it. What with all the name-calling and teasing of previous years-"

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, making her jump. "Tone it down a bit. Jeez, you sound like McGonagall," he said. She smiled.

"Sorry. Anyway, the amount he used to tease and be nasty to me in the years that we've been at Hogwarts ... He'd never fancy me. Not even if I used a love potion," she said, staring out of the window. She looked back at Ron and Harry who looked at her, horrified. "Oh, for God's sake, I wouldn't want to!"

_But that's not quite true, is it?_ A nasty little voice questioned in the back of her head. She forced it out. _Ugh, Draco Malfoy? Please!_ Her own voice sounded in her head.

Harry's story of Moody and Dudley forgotten, the rest of the train story was spent lazily thinking about what Draco had said. But only Hermione remember the small smile that Draco had flashed at them before leaving. It was quite a mysterious smile... 

By the time the Sorting was over, Harry and Ron were entirely shattered. They declined to join the first-night-back party in the Gryffindor common room and traipsed up to their room. Harry climbed into bed and wondered what his sleep would be like. The last time he had slept at Hogwarts, his dreams had been full of tortured thoughts and lost memories of Sirius. He closed his eyes and almost immediately fell into a dreamless sleep which he was very grateful for when he awoke the next morning. 

Hermione wandered alone, through the Hogwarts grounds. She had missed the soft grass brushing under her feet, the wind ruffling through her hair slightly. She shivered and pulled her cloak around her body more tightly and headed towards the large tree next to the lake. It was quite dark, but after five years being in this school day after day, she knew her way around. The only light came from the moon, which emitted an eerie silver glow onto the ground and surrounding trees. It reflected gently off the lake's surface and shone down to about ten feet below, showing the Grindylows lurking in the top of the seaweed. Hermione sat down, leaning her back against the tree and watched the rippling surface.

"Lonely?" a voice asked next to her ear. She turned, startled and smiled up at the visitor.

"Not really, just thinking," she replied.

"Can I pull up a root?"

"Sure, sit down," Hermione said, indicating a patch of clean grass next to her. Ginny sat down.

"Feels a bit weird," Ginny said, looking out onto the lake. Hermione looked at her.

"What does?"

"Being back at Hogwarts. I - no, it's weird," Ginny cut herself off. Hermione turned to face her.

"No, come on. Tell me, why's it weird to be back at Hogwarts?"

"Well, after everything that happened last year. When you, Ron, Harry, Neville, Luna and me all went to the Ministry of Magic to save Sirius and got ambushed by those Death Eaters."

"And ... And Sirius died," Hermione said, her voice catching on the lump that was rising in her throat. Ginny nodded, swallowing hard.

"I just feel that we all matured so much when we took that risk and battled with experienced wizards. It just ... It's strange being back at school because when you think of a school you picture children and immaturity," she said. Hermione looked up at Ginny and was surprised to see tears filling the younger girl's eyes.

"Hey, don't cry, Gin," she said. Ginny smiled weakly and forced the tears back. "None of us could have known what was going to happen. It's the worst thing that you, me and Ron have ever experienced and one of the worst that Neville, Harry and Luna have encountered, so we can't stop it hurting. But we have to recover and get on with our lives and just think of this as another lesson on the way to the final year of school. Shall we go back to the castle?" Hermione asked, for the wind was rising and it was almost pitch dark.

"You're so bloody philosophical," Ginny said, hugging her friend as they stood up. They both laughed. They began to walk back to the entrance hall. "I had no idea about Neville's parents. Not until Dumbledore told us five when we went to his office after we came back from the Ministry. Well, Harry already knew."

They then walked in silence and as they reached the castle, Hermione began to talk, but was cut off.

"Who's there?" a silky voice asked. They both spun around to see Snape, who was holding a lantern. "Girls, it is past midnight, you should be getting some sleep before your first day of lessons?" he suggested and stalked back to his office. Hermione and Ginny didn't need to speak to establish that they had escaped detention from Snape out of sympathy for the ordeal they had been through at the end of last year. When they reached the common room, which was now empty, they said good night and headed off to their seperate dormitories.

_

**- Chapter Two -**

_Back to Lessons_

"Good morning," Hermione said, stifling a yawn as she joined Harry, Ron and Ginny for breakfast the next morning.

"Sleep well?" Ron asked. She glared at him.

"Not particularly."

"Well, you shouldn't have sat by the lake til midnight then, should you?" Harry said. Hermione smiled and helped herself to a piece of toast.

"Oi!" called Dean from a few seats up. "Sixth year timetables. Hermione, do the honours," he said, passing some sheets of paper to her. She rolled her eyes and stood up to pass the timetables around.

"Thanks. Oh, brilliant, I've got History of Magic first," Ginny said, as her own timetable reached her from a fifth year boy sitting next to her.

"We've got a free period," Ron said, consulting his piece of paper. "And then, oh no, Double Potions with the Slytherins - we still haven't got rid of those idiots - and after that it's lunch. Hmm, great morning."

"Free period? It says Care of Magical Creatures, doofus," Harry said, hitting Ron in the back of the head with his fork.

"Ow! That's a dangerous weapon. Could be classed as psychopathic. And anyway, if you bothered to read the footnote, you'd know that Hagrid's not here for the first lesson. I suppose Dumbledore couldn't find a replacement in time."

"But where's Hagrid?" Hermione asked. She looked at Harry, who looked just as confused as her.

"He was there for the first years last night," Harry said, looking back at Hermione.

"P'raps he's got other thin's ter do," a voice growled from behind them.

"Hagrid! It's so wonderful to see you," Hermione exclaimed, hugging her larger-than-life friend. Harry grinned up at him.

"What sort of 'other things', Hagrid?" Ron asked, smiling. Hagrid rolled his eyes.

"Never learn, will yer? I've got ter do some work in the Forest," he said. Ron opened his mouth to speak. "Before yer ask, I will _not_ tell yer what it is that I am doin'," Hagrid said. Ron looked down at his toast, disappointed. Hagrid wandered off to the teacher's table and sat himself down next to Professor Sprout and began talking animatedly to her.

"No doubt about his latest installment of terrifying creatures," Harry muttered, seeing Hermione watching the teacher's table.

"What? Oh, Hagrid. No, Harry. I was looking at the woman with the black hair," Hermione said. Harry and Ron looked up to see a tall, slim woman talking with Snape. She had dark eyes and pale skin and long black hair.

"Must be Snape's wife," Ron mumbled through a mouthful of toast.

"Wife?" Harry asked disbelievingly. "Who'd want to marry him?" he asked, enraged by the thought. Hermione giggled.

"Come on," a voice drawled. Draco Malfoy was standing in the huge doorway of the Great Hall. Since the trio were sitting near to the end of the table because they had been late, they heard him. "His wife? That's his niece," he said.

"How do you know?" Ron asked.

"Snape's my head of house. He introduced us all to her last night. She's only nineteen. He was probably hoping that we'd all fancy the ugly bitch," Malfoy said. Ron eyed him suspiciously. In his memory, this was the first time Draco Malfoy had ever spoken to him without making a harsh and unappreciated joke about the Weasley's financial status. "Her name's Juliette Gardé. French, or so I think," he said. Crabbe and Goyle nodded eagerly from behind him, obviously happy to make their presence known. Malfoy, as if he hadn't expected the two to turn up glared at the Gryffindors. "See you later, Scarhead, Weasel and Mudblood." The three Slytherins stalked away to their own table.

"What just happened there?" Ron asked dumbly, looking at Hermione for help. She chewed on her toast thoughtfully and then swallowed.

"I think," she began carefully, "that he was being nice to us. But, I'm not sure, maybe he's playing a joke."

"But why did he turn all ... Well, normal when Crabbe and Goyle turned up?" Harry asked, scratching his head and swallowing another mouthful of pumpkin juice.

"Maybe he wants to be friends with us, but doesn't want those two knowing?" Hermione suggested through a mouthful of bacon. "But, no. I'm not sure. Why would he be nice to us? We've hardly been nice to him in the past."

"The least he deserved," Ron said bitterly.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Harry said to Ron. "Remember last year when me, Fred and George got a lifetime ban from Quidditch, because of him?"

"Definetely. He looked like he'd just won the House Cup all by himself. But that doesn't explain his present behaviour," Ron replied, carelessly waving his hand about.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed angrily.

"What?" he asked, jumping at her shrill shout.

"You spilt your drink all over my timetable. I'm having yours," she said as she picked his up and put it into the folds of her robes.

"What? How am I supposed to know what lessons we have?" he asked.

"I don't know. Share with Harry. See you two in the common room," she said, picking up her things and leaving. Ron looked at Harry, at a complete loss for words.

"Must be PLT," Harry said.

"BLT? Isn't that a type of sandwich?" Ron asked, confused.

"No, PLT. I just invented it - Pre Lesson Tension," Harry said. Ron chuckled.

"Sounds like Hermione," he said and they both laughed.

"C'mon, let's go and catch her up before she kills herself or something." 

"Today, we will be focusing on Truth Potions. This is Veritaserum, one of the strongest truth potions around. But I highly doubt any of you-" Snape looked pointedly at Hermione who's hand was in it's usual place, in the air - "will be able to make Veritaserum today. Yes, Miss Granger?" he asked, rolling his eyes and waving a hand in her direction.

"Sir, I thought we didn't study Truth Potions until seventh year," she said.

"The curriculum has been rearranged. Now, I suggest you all take out some parchment and your quills so you can note down the recipe," Snape said, looking around beadily. No one moved, everyone was too stunned that he had spoken civilly to Hermione. "Now," he commanded, a tone of annoyance in his voice. Everyone unpacked their things and dipped their quills in the inkwells placed along the fronts of the desks. Snape pointed his wand at the board and spirally writing began to web its way across in white chalk. Snape's niece, Juliette Gardé, watched intently as all the class looked at the board, waiting until the recipe was fully written. She did not see Hermione watching her.

One by one, everyone began to copy from the board, until the dungeon was filled with the scratching of quills against parchment. Hermione finished first and sat, re-reading the potion remedy. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and thought to herself about how hard it would be to make. Poor Neville Longbottom, probably the worst Potions student that had ever attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hermione smiled. Neville was a good friend and a lovely boy but unfortunately the only subject he seemed to be good at was Herbology. Considering that wasn't til Thursday, Neville didn't have much to look forward to. Hermione still marveled at how Neville had made it into the Advanced Potions tutor group.

Harry stopped writing and looked up to see Gardé watching him. He raised an eyebrow and stared back. Seeing this, Gardé narrowed her eyes and looked away, watching someone else. Harry decided he definetely didn't like her. She, no doubt, had it in for him just like Snape. But then Harry remembered something, Snape hadn't said a word to Harry that morning. Maybe Snape decided that the best way to convey his dislike for the boy who survived Lord Voldemort's tricks (five times now) was to just ignore him completely. Harry shrugged, completely indifferent about it and put his quill down.

Hermione was right, the potion was the most difficult that the class had ever tackled but, amazingly, even Neville managed to make a weak potion.

"And now, we will test them. Malfoy, Potter! You will be the first testers. Malfoy give Potter some of your Truth Potion and ask him a question that you think he would normally lie about," Snape instructed. Harry took a gulp of the Truth Potion and saw Malfoy thinking about what to ask him.

_Ask him if The Dark Lord can read his mind. That should stir a few cauldrons_, a niggling little voice murmured in the back of Malfoy's head. _But if the answer is yes, do you really think the class will accept it and get on with their work? No. Ask him something else. Something patheticly obvious._

"Do you fancy Cho Chang from Ravenclaw?" Malfoy asked. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Is that the best that you can come up with, Malfoy?

"Answer the damn question, Potter or I'll be taking points away from your house for attitude," the Potions master snapped. Harry sighed and licked his lips.

"I used to, got over her when I realised that all she could do was talk and cry about Ced- someone else," Harry said slowly. Snape nodded, seemingly satisfied.

"That seems to work alright, perhaps you could ask him something else? Something more personal?" Snape prompted. Malfoy looked up at the Potions master.

"Or, he could test his now?" he asked, wondering what Snape had wanted him to ask.

"Very well. Potter, test your potion on Malfoy. I do not think the class need to hear anymore discussions, join into pairs and ask each other questions," Snape ordered, looking nastily at Ron and Hermione, who reluctantly moved away from each other and found seperate partners.

"Um, so. Um, do you fancy anyone?" Harry asked after administering some of his potion to Malfoy. The blonde boy looked at him and smirked.

"Not really. Why, do you bat for the other team and want to ask me out?" he asked. Harry ignored that comment and tilted his head on one side.

"Well, do you like the look of anyone?"

"Granger," Draco said. Harry felt his mouth fall open. "Oh shut up, that doesn't mean I fancy her for Merlin's sake, Potter. Don't get jealous, I'll always have a special place for you."

"Alright, no need to get nasty. Well, in your case, normal."

"Stop it," Draco growled at Harry, seeing Goyle looking his way. "Promise me you won't tell her?"

"Hmm, well-"

"Promise!" Draco said in a hoarse whisper. Harry nodded and they shook hands unwillingly on it. It seemed that the two boys had forged somewhat of a civilised agreement, after five years of being in each others' company. 

**- Chapter Three -**

_The Thing in the Forest_

"Yer, alrigh' then. No, Professor, I'll tell 'im that 'e's got ter go and I'll take 'im 'ome. Jus', please don' tell anyone, I'd be very grateful," Hagrid's voice rumbled as Harry and Ron passed an open door. Hermione, who was marching ahead, turned round and looked at them scathingly.

"Don't eavesdrop, you two," she hissed, seeing them looking into the empty classroom.

"Oh, come on, Hermione. Don't tell us you don't want to know what Hagrid's up to?" Ron asked. She shrugged.

"He said it wasn't anything to do with us, so I'm not getting involved. Come on, let's get to lunch," she said. Ron and Harry looked at each other and followed her down the hall. 

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked, looking around the Great Hall. She was no where to be seen. "Fine, suit herself. We'll eat and go to the common room, she might be there. She can help me with this stupid Potions essay. Two and a half feet of parchment on Truth Potions. Snape hasn't changed a bit, he's just as vindictive as ever," he complained. Harry nodded silently and they sat down next to Seamus Finnigan.

"Hi, Harry, Ron. Since you're so, so busy, Harry, I sorted out practice for you." Seamus had been put in charge of the Quidditch team for Harry. Somehow, Seamus always managed to have time for the team which he had recently become Beater for. He and a fourth-year called Julian Twicke were the Gryffindor Beaters. Ginny, her best friend Louise Jennings and another fifth-year called Tom were the Chasers. Harry and Ron had remained in their positions as Seeker and Keeper. "First Quidditch practice is this Saturday afternoon. I would have got the pitch for the whole day, but Slytherin booked it. So, I bargained with them and we've got half and half," Seamus said. "Have either of you had any flying practice over the summer?" he asked. Harry grinned, Seamus sounded like he ought to be Quidditch captain.

"No, my Firebolt was here, remember?" he replied. Ron nodded.

"I managed to do quite a lot, but the only person I could get to throw balls for me was Ginny. Not the greatest aim," he added in an undertone. Seamus grinned and laughed.

"Well, see you in a bit. And Ginny has good aim or she wouldn't be Chaser," Seamus retorted, gathering up his books and leaving. Harry and Ron watched him go and then grinned at each other. Quidditch this year would be fun. 

"So, let me get this right. You want me to _help_ you?" Hermione asked, amazed. Malfoy nodded.

"But don't tell anyone that you are. I suck at Charms and I've got that on Wednesday, so you can meet me by the Forest tomorrow evening, after dinner," he said. Hermione snorted.

"Does it not occur to you that I might have plans?" she asked, glaring at him. He rolled his eyes.

"Well, sorry, Miss Mudblood-" he started, but was cut off as Hermione's palm made a loud clap against his cheek. "Oh for God's sake. You are a Mudblood and you'll get over me calling you that," he said.

"Ok, well because my blood is so dirty," Hermione ranted angrily, "I guess I can't be much good at Charms. So forget the help," she snapped, spinning round to leave.

"Wait! No, please," he said, his tone softening. She turned back around and looked at him. "Please. I really need your help. I wouldn't ask unless I was desperate," he said, looking embarrassedly at the floor. Hermione relaxed slightly.

"And what will I get out of it?" she asked.

"I promise I won't ever call you Mudblood again. Unless you're annoying me," Malfoy said. Hermione opened her mouth to protest but when she saw he was laughing silently, she merely smiled wearily.

"Deal. I'll see you by the Forest," she said and opened the door of the empty classroom to leave.

"See you then," he replied. "Oh, and Hermione?"

She looked at him over her shoulder, surprised to hear her first name come out of his mouth.

"Thanks." 

The rest of that afternoon was quite uneventful, with an interesting Transfiguration lesson that taught them how to transfigure large objects into smaller objects. Hermione carried her minature book to the front of the class and handed it to Professor McGonagall proudly.

"Class!" McGonagall said loudly, causing the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students to look up. "I would like you to watch this. _Harashiva_," she said, pointing her wand at the book which jumped off her hand and grew into a large bookcase that stood itself next to the desk. Hermione smiled and looked up at the class. Just as she did, Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini walked past the door. Malfoy looked at her as he went past and flashed a grateful smile in Hermione's direction. Hermione quickly looked back to Professor McGonagall who had also seen the Slytherins passing. She raised an eyebrow and marched to the back of the classroom to watch the five disappear around the corner. She turned back to Hermione. "Well, Miss Granger. Would you please demonstrate your Minimising Spell?" she asked. Hermione nodded and pointed her wand at the book case, holding her other hand out flat.

"_Ferashiva_," she commanded. The bookcase shrunk slowly and fitted itself neatly into Hermione's palm as the tiny book which she had held moments before. The class clapped enthusiastically; this was one of the most difficult Transfigurations that they had been taught. Hermione's success seemed to give the class new hope and soon, large objects positioned around the classroom began to shrink. Neville accidently held his wand the wrong way round out of nervousness and the chair he was sitting on disappeared beneath him and he tumbled to the floor. Everyone laughed but a fierce look from Professor McGonagall stopped the smiles and everyone got back to their work. 

Hermione walked down over the grounds and saw Malfoy sitting by the entrance of the Forest. It surprised her to see that he looked pretty normal for a Muggle-hating wizard. He was wearing jeans and a loose blue shirt. _Hmm, he doesn't scrub up too bad_, she thought. She was wearing the same black top she had worn on the train on the first day back and a dark green skirt. She had let some of the girls from the year below mess about with different hairstyles for her in lunch that day, so her hair was half up and all of it dead straight. Malfoy was poring over a book and didn't see her approach.

"Hi," Hermione said, sitting down next to him. He looked up.

"Hi, Granger," he said. Hermione rolled her eyes and thought, _What's the deal with the surname? It's not army camp! But, then again, him being a pure-blood probably means he's never heard of army camp._

"So, what do you need help with?" she asked, flicking a stray lock of hair out of her face.

"The basis of Advanced Charms," he said, smiling slightly. As he did, his eyes lit up, revealing the soul inside. Hermione shook her head to rid it of the thought that someone as opinionated as Draco Malfoy could possibly have a soul.

"It's a pretty wide basis, Malfoy. Where do you want to start?"

"I've told you before that I have a first name. I don't care where we start, you choose."

"Well, I also have a first name," she said, pulling up a tuft of grass and throwing it at him irritably.

"Sorry, I'm kind of getting used to not calling you the 'M' word," he said, throwing a handful of grass at her. She rolled her eyes and pushed him. To both of their surprise, he leapt at her and pushed her over but went with her and the next thing they knew, he was lying on top of her. They looked into each other's eyes, unsure of what to do. Draco opened his mouth to say how beautiful Hermione's eyes were when a loud crash from inside the Forest made them both jump so much that they fell apart.

"What was that?" Hermione whispered. Draco looked around in the gathering dark, trying to see if anyone was there. He looked at Hermione and saw that she was frightened, the fear gathering in her eyes that shimmered under the dark trees.

"Well, maybe we should move away from the Forest?" he suggested. Another loud crash came, but it seemed closer this time. Hermione scrambled away from the tree which they had been sitting next to.

"Yeah, maybe we should go to the library or something?" she asked. Yet another crash and a loud creaking sound told them that whatever it was had knocked over a tree. Hermione moved back towards the Forest slightly, searching the darkness for signs of movement. Then, a low rumbling growl reached their ears. Draco inhaled sharply as Hermione grabbed his arm.

"What the hell is in there?" she squeaked, her voice barely a whisper. Draco looked at her, a sudden mad urge coming over him to risk his life and go exploring.

"I don't know. Fancy finding out?" he asked. Hermione's eyes grew wide but she didn't back away or respond negatively, in fact, to Draco's surprise she nodded determinedly and moved to stand up. Draco jumped up and offered her a hand, which she gratefully took. "Wands out," he muttered and they both took out their wands.

"Lumos," Hermione said and a ray of light shot onto the ground, creating a little glowing light in front of them. Draco did the same and they both made their way into the Forest, leaving their books behind. They walked for some way before they heard anything or saw any sign of movement.

"What's that?" he asked as they heard what sounded like a person stampeding in their direction. Hermione tugged him behind a tree and looked around it carefully. Hagrid hurried past, his nose bleeding profusely. Fang charged after him and the Draco and Hermione watched as the two disappeared out of the Forest, presumably going to Hagrid's hut. Through the trees, the two sixth-years could make out the sun setting.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Hermione asked, looking at the pink and orange painted sky. Draco nodded.

"Come on, we'd better investigate," he said. Hermione giggled.

"You make us sound like spies," she said. He nodded.

"Spies it is then. Hogwart's Spies," he said, pointing his wand out in front of him like a sword. They both laughed and headed a little further into the Forest. 

"Where the hell is Hermione?" Ron asked as his knight smashed Harry's rook into the chessboard.

"Careful! I paid for him," Harry complained, moving his own knight forward. "Check," he said proudly. Ron looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"You didn't. That was in a Wizard Christmas Cracker, you lying idiot!" he exclaimed, moving his king out of the way. Harry shrugged.

"Whatever. And, I have no idea where Hermione is, she left straight after dinner. Maybe she's doing homework," Harry replied. Ron looked scandalized. He moved his bishop forward three spaces.

"You're joking?" he asked sarcastically and they both laughed. "Speaking of which, that's checkmate so we'd probably better do some homework, we have three assignments to do now." Harry scowled at Ron's move, which had made him lose his other rook.

"Ok, I'll do Potions first because that's in this week. Then I'll get started on Charms," Harry said and Ron nodded. They got out their books, quills and parchment and started. 

"We're getting close now," Draco whispered. They edged forward, step by step, towards the low rumbling that they were gaining on.

"Ouch!" Hermione whispered as a jagged branch dragged it's way across her neck, leaving a fine cut. She hissed and went to touch it but Draco grabbed her hands and stopped her.

"Let me," he muttered and placed his hands on her shoulders. Slowly, he leaned forward to look at the cut. He twisted her slightly so the light that showered through the trees was on her. He squinted and leaned in so their bodies were pressing together slightly. He felt Hermione's stomach draw in as she inhaled sharply but ignored this reaction. Hermione closed her eyes as she felt his warm breath gently cascading against her skin. Little tingles began to trace their way up and down her spine and her breathing became shallow, as if her lungs were being crushed.

Not knowing why she was doing it, Hermione slowly slid her hands around Draco's waist and pulled their bodies closer together. She felt him recoil slightly and then move back to her. She stood at a slightly different angle so her arms were wrapped completely around him and pressed into him ever so gently. Draco's hands ran down off her shoulders onto her lower back and he embraced her touch, knowing this was what he wanted. He looked at the girl he had despised for so long, why had he never realised she was the one he was after? He turned his face so he was looking straight into her eyes.

"Draco ..." she whispered, her lips parting slightly.

"You have beautiful eyes, Granger," he said. _What am I doing?_ Draco thought. _She's a Mu- no, I promised I wouldn't call her that. But she still is one. Maybe I should tell her I'm joking..._ She blushed and smiled modestly. _That smile, it's so pretty. Why am I thinking this?_

_What am I doing?_ Hermione questioned herself. _Harry and Ron would kill me if they knew. But - what's to know? They can hardly fly off the handle if I say he said I have nice eyes. But then they would know that I was down here with him. They'd know that he was close enough to see my eyes. They would definetely go mad about that. But I don't mind being this close to him. It's quite nice. No, no. This is Draco Malfoy - we hate each other. Don't we? Why am I thinking this?_

"Um, may- maybe ... We should carry on? It's starting to get darker," she said. He nodded and reluctantly they pulled apart.

Suddenly, the rumbling noise got very loud as they saw a clearing up ahead. It was unmistakeably snoring. As they approached it a huge mound, or what looked like one, came into view. Hermione gasped.

"No, it can't be!"

"Can't be what?" Draco asked, confused.

"Shh," Hermione whispered, barely any noise escaping her lips. They crept closer and Hermione gasped again, but silently this time. Draco looked at her, bewildered and freaked out. The mound was _breathing_. When they reached the edge of the clearing, Draco was horrified to discover that the 'mound' was a huge giant, sleeping on it's side. _That would explain the breathing part_, he thought, but resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. He looked over at Hermione who was looking at the giant with a strange expression on her face. Almost a look of recognition.

"Erm, Hermione?" he whispered. "That's a giant." His eyes flicked towards the sleeping creature uncomfortably. He looked back at Hermione.

"I know," Hermione muttered, turning to face him. "That's Hagrid's brother. That's Grawp." 

**- Chapter Four -**

_An Unexpected Gift_

"So let me get this straight. Hagrid has a brother?" Draco asked disbelievingly as they reached the edge of the Forest. She nodded.

"His half-brother. Last year when Hagrid disappeared after Umbridge attacked him, Harry and I had to look after him and 'talk to him to encourage his English'," she said. Draco raised an eyebrow.

"I don't understand how you put up with Potter," he said. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Well, you wouldn't, being in Slytherin and everything. Friends obviously aren't everything for the Serpent-lovers, are they?" she snapped, gathering up her Charms books.

"What are you on about, Mudblood?" Draco asked, only remembering his promise when the words were already out of his mouth. Hermione gasped and her eyes filled with tears. "No, no, no, no, no, I didn't mean to say that!"

"Well, you did," Hermione said and turned on her heels. She began to march back up to the castle.

"Hermione!" Draco yelled, running after her. She spun round angrily.

"We are no longer on first name terms. Good night, Malfoy," she fumed and ran the rest of the way to the Entrance Hall. Draco stopped, defeated.

"What were you expecting? A love story? A fairytale?" he asked himself aloud. _Get over it. She's a Mudblood. She doesn't belong here_, he thought. With that, he picked up his books and stormed off to his dormitory. When he got there, he threw his books down on his bed and yelled in frustration, throwing himself face-down on his bed after his books that now lay strewn across the covers. 

Hermione walked up to the Gryffindor common room with the tears still in her eyes. The Fat Lady was snoozing, so Hermione cleared her throat.

"What?" the Fat Lady asked, waking with a start. "Oh, hello, Hermione. Oh my, are you alright dear?" she asked, noticing Hermine's pained expression. Hermione nodded and forced a smile onto her face, finding this made her feel slightly better.

"Jitterbug," she said. The portrait swung open to reveal the common room. It was fairly noisy as three second years were using Levitating Charms to fly books at a group of terrified first years. She ignored this, feeling too lethargic to pay attention to her Prefect duties and walked over to where Ron and Harry were relaxing in armchairs and talking solidly. _No doubt about Quidditch_, Hermione thought, smiling to herself.

"Where have you been?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Um, I-I've been at the, um, the library," she lied, surprised by his anger.

"No surprise there then," he said smiling. Hermione smiled and laughed when she realised he was joking.

"I'm really tired though, so I think I'll just go to bed," she said. _Oh damn! I've still got homework and I haven't done that Advanced Potions essay. Snape will kill me_, she thought and hurried up to the room that she shared with Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown. Normally Lavender and Parvati were best friends but it shocked Hermione to see that Lavender was sitting on her bed and her pretty face was crumpled with tears. Parvati wasn't there. "Hey," she said softly, not wanting to startle Lavendar.

"Oh, hi, Hermione," Lavender replied gloomily. "What are you doing up here so early?"

"I thought I could do my Potions essay up here, it's a bit noisy downstairs."

"Can I do mine with you? I'm a bit stuck on some of the history," Lavender said. Hermione nodded and sat next to Lavendar. "I would do the assignment with Parvati, but we fell out."

"Don't worry, you two are notorious for being best friends. It'll be fine," Hermione said truthfully. The pair were never seen out of each others company and it was probably the first time Hermione had ever spoken to Lavender when she was on her own. Lavender smiled gratefully and they put their heads together to work. Roughly an hour later, they were both finished and proudly Lavender held up two and a half feet of parchment.

"Wow, thanks Hermione. I've never got the right length," she said. Hermione smiled and admired her own piece of work which was just over three feet long.

"That's no problem. I'm going to get some sleep now, I guess I'll see you in the morning," she said to her new found friend. She was sure that it wouldn't last for long, Parvati and Lavender would be friends by the end of the week.

"Good night, Hermione," Lavender said and they both settled down to sleep. About ten minutes after Lavender had dozed off, the bedroom door creaked open and Parvati slid into the room.

"Parvati, is that you?" Hermione whispered. The figure turned towards her.

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, don't tell Lavender I told you but we fell out, so is it alright if I hang out with you, Harry and Ron?" Parvati asked. Hermione frowned in the dark.

"That should be fine, I'll ask them tomorrow. But, I will be talking to Lavender aswell," she replied. A bed creaked as Parvati sat down on it, her shoulders slumped.

"Oh, ok," she said, sounding rather dejected. "Good night then."

"Night," Hermione replied and soon was sleeping, her head resting on her pillow. 

Again, Harry had a night's dreamless sleep. He had tried hard to clear his mind before he had dozed off and obviously it had been successful. When he woke up he was so glad it had worked he sat up and thought what he would tell Sirius about it - until he remembered. _I can't wait to get a reply from Sirius, he'll be so happy that I - he would have been so happy_, Harry thought, smacking his forehead angrily. It seemed the grief was settling in and didn't intend on calming down for some time. Harry felt tears pricking at the backs of his eyes and was glad he was the only person awake. He rolled on his side and stared out of the window; it was a beautiful morning but the warmth of the newly risen sun didn't quite reach his heart. He felt like there was a big gaping hole inside of his heart, which had been previously filled by the presence of his godfather. Forcing back choking sobs, Harry got out of bed and wandered down to the common room. It was six thirty at the latest and Harry was surprised to see Hermione sitting in an armchair reading a book. A stair creaked under his feet and she looked up.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," she said, smiling at him. He grinned lopsidedly. Somehow, Hermione always knew what to say to put a smile on his face as if they had some hidden connection. 'Sleeping beauty' startled him somewhat but then he mentally kicked himself and thought it was impossible she had meant he was attractive.

"I'm knackered," he said, yawning.

"Well, not as tired as me. I did my Potions last night with Lavender up in our room. She's fallen out with Parvati," Hermione said, stifling a yawn of her own. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then, Harry looked surprised.

"They've fallen out?" he asked. He rarely spoke to either Lavender or Parvati, in fact he'd hardly said a word to Parvati since the Yule Ball in their fourth year. They were never seen without each other, a bit like himself and Ron.

"Yes," Hermione replied, seemingly unconcerned. "They'll be friends before you can say Hedwig." Again, they now sat in silence. A few minutes passed.

"Hedwig," Harry said. Hermione looked up, raising an eyebrow.

"What? No, Harry, I didn't mean for you to say it-"

"Hedwig," Harry said again, more firmly this time. He nodded towards the window. Hedwig was waiting impatiently outside it with a piece of parchment attached to her leg. Harry rushed over and opened the window. She swooped into the room and landed on the back of one of the armchairs.

"Ooh, it looks like Lupin's writing," Hermione said, inspecting the seal. To Harry, this was the first time he had ever heard her sounding completely baffled.

"Thanks, Hedwig," Harry said, taking the letter and stroking her head. She clicked her beak and hooted softly before soaring out of the window again. Harry unrolled the parchment and began to read the letter to Hermione.

_Harry,_

_I was clearing out Sirius' old room and I found this. I wasn't sure what to do with it and then it hit me, so I've forwarded it to you. If you remember he gave you that mirror - well, I have found the other one. So if you ever wish to talk with me, or anyone at the Order for that matter, just say the name of the person who you want to talk to and somehow we will get through to you. Unless we are not there, which is normally quite unlikely because of all the work we are doing at you-know-where. If you want to talk to me, say Remus, not Lupin. I am not your teacher anymore and so I would like you to consider me as a friend-_

"Well, that's really good of him," Hermione said, smiling.

_- and I hope to hear from you soon. I also include a letter from Mrs Weasley and one from Tonks._

_Remus._

"Tonks and Mrs Weasley have written aswell? Someone's popular," Hermione said. Harry smiled and opened unfolded the next small piece of parchment.

_Hi Harry,_

_I hope you're ok, back at Hogwarts safe and sound. It was a shame you couldn't stay at you-know-where this summer, I enjoy "the Trio's" company, but as you know we have been very busy. Hope everyone's well, send my love to Ginny, Ron and Hermione._

_Tonks._

Hermione and Harry smiled whilst he opened the next letter.

_Dear Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione,_

_I was just writing to let you know that we are hoping to have you to stay for the Christmas holidays. We have finally got Mrs Black down and have put her in the attic with Kreacher. I know it's a bit early to organise everything but I thought you'd want to come back and see the changes that we have made. Your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is an Auror, but I won't say any more than that. You may be surprised. But, he is very busy so you'll be lucky to see him before Christmas. Good luck with your first lessons if this reaches you in time for that. Ron, dear, Fred and George say they hope you can help them in the shop sometime as they are still setting everything up for business._

_All my love,_

_Molly Weasley._

"We can stay for Christmas? Brilliant," Harry said happily.

"Yes, I must say it would be nice to see everyone, I do miss Tonk's Metamorphasizing in dinner time," Hermione replied excitedly. Harry relaxed back in his chair and yawned again.

"Remind me to tell Ron when he's up," he said lazily.

"I will," Hermione said. "What was that thing that Lup- Remus forwarded from Sirius?" she asked. Harry sat bolt upright, only just remembering. There had been a little package with the letters. Harry unwrapped it eagerly and onto his lap fell a pen knife. It was identical to his old one. "Oh!" Hermione exclaimed. "It must have been the one that he had," she said.

"I'm so glad Remus sent it," Harry said, holding the knife like it was some treasure, looking at it from every angle.

"Remus sent what?" a voice asked through yawns on the stairs. It was Ginny.

"Morning, Ginny," Hermione said. Ginny acknowledged this with a wave as she yawned again.

"He sent me Sirius' pen knife," Harry said. Ginny smiled.

"That was really nice of him. Did he send a letter?" she asked. Harry nodded.

"I'll read it to you when Ron gets his lazy arse down here," Harry said. Ginny frowned.

"Lazy? But it's only seven thirty," Ginny said. Harry shrugged.

"I'll go and wake him up."

"Wake who up?" Ron asked brightly, bounding down the stairs and sitting on the floor by the fire. Harry looked at him, amazed.

"Well, I was going to wake you up, mate," he said. "Looks like I don't need to. This is the earliest that you have ever been up at."

"Second earliest, the world cup, remember?" Ron asked. Harry nodded and smiled.

"That was a day to remember and not for all the right reasons," Hermione said. "Ireland won and Krum caught the snitch-"

"Still seeing Vicky?" Ron sneered. Hermione shot him a withering glare.

"No, I haven't spoken to him in at least four months. Anyway, he caught the snitch but Ireland got the cup, those Death Eaters went on the rampage, Crouch's son cast the Dark Mark, Winky was freed-"

"Yeah, about that," Harry interrupted. "Are you still running S.P.E.W?" he asked. Hermione felt her mouth drop open as he had said it properly for the first time in nearly two years.

"I don't know, I suppose I forgot about it with everything that's been happening. That remind's me, I'd better get making some more hats for the elves-"

"Didn't you have a letter or something, Harry?" Ginny asked loudly. Hermione raised an eyebrow and muttered something to herself that sounded very much like "no one cares about slave labour".

"Oh yeah, Ron, I got a letter from Remus," Harry said.

"Remus?" Ron asked, looking confused.

"Lupin."

"Oh, what does it say?" Ron asked. Harry re-read the letters out loud to Ginny and Ron and then showed them the pen knife. "Wicked," Ron said. "Lupin's a decent bloke."

"He wants us to call him Remus," Harry corrected. Ron nodded.

"It's too early in the morning." 

**- Chapter Five -**

_The Serpent's Apology_

"Who do you think the new Defense teacher is?" Ron asked as they headed towards their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.

"No idea, except Remus said it was an Auror. By the way he said it was a surprise, I'm sure we know whoever it is. I wonder if it's Tonks?" Harry said.

"I doubt it," Hermione replied. "I thought it might be Moody, but he's really busy with the Order so I wasn't too sure." Harry and Ron nodded.

"It would be cool if it was Moody again-" Ron began.

"Ron," Hermione began testily, "it wasn't him before, so how could it be him again?"

"Sorry," Ron replied, backing away slightly. _Seems Hermione is in a particularly fiery mood today_, he though to himself.

"Well, engage your brain with your mouth before you speak," she snapped.

"What's got into you?" he asked angrily.

"Everything! OK?" she said hotly.

"Everyone into the classroom," a greasy voice commanded. Harry and Ron stared at each other as Hermione marched into the classroom.

"Snape's not an Auror, he must be taking over," Harry decided.

"Yeah, I hope the proper teacher gets here soon. What's got into Hermione? She's acting like the Ice Queen-" Draco lost the rest of Ron's words as he was pushed forward into the classroom. Undoubtedly, Hermione was upset because of what he had said to her the previous evening. He took the seat behind Hermione and hastily scribbled a note on a piece of parchment that had been left on the desk from the lesson before. He threw it carefully over her shoulder.

_What's this? Oh great, a note. Who'd be writing to me and wasting their ti- oh, it's from Malfoy_, Hermione thought irritably. To her surprise, he had very neat, curling script and the parchment felt like silk under her fingers.

_I want to apologise to you but in person. Wait behind at the end of Defense. - Draco._

Hermione twisted in her chair and looked at him. He raised an eyebrow questioningly and she nodded before turning back to face the front. 

At the end of another unbearable lesson with their vindictive Potion's master, Ron and Harry rushed out of the classroom. Ron, still stuffing books and parchment into his bag, wondered aloud, "Why wasn't the new teacher there?" Harry shrugged unconcernedly and they turned down a corridor which took them to the Gryffindor common room. Due to the fight with Hermione, Ron wasn't too bothered that she hadn't followed them after the lesson.

Hermione waited outside the classroom impatiently. Draco wandered out and looked at her appraisingly. She glared at him and he stopped.

"I ... Uh, I'm-"

"What are you two doing?" Snape asked icily. Hermione opened her mouth to say something but Draco and Snape never found out what it was.

"I was just asking her to help me with my Charms, since that's what I'm worst at," Draco said quickly. Hermione looked at him, raising an eyebrow. Draco looked at her pleadingly.

"Yes, professor. I said I would help him with his -"

"I know what you are doing. But do you need to stand outside my classroom?"

"Professor, this is the Defense Against the-"

"Go somewhere else!" Snape shouted, pointing down the hall angrily.

"But-"

"Ten points from Slytherin and Gryffindor for inappropriate questions."

"But, why are you taking from-"

"My own house? Because you are disturbing my peace while I could be working. Now leave unless you want a detention," Snape muttered, as if he were saying an incantation. Hermione and Draco hurried away, whilst Snape watched them with an intense look of dislike on his face.

"What was that about?" Hermione hissed as they wandered around a corner. then she remembered who she was talking to and walking with. "I'm going to my common room," she said, swirling back round.

"Wait-"

"Miss Granger, do not think I am going to allow you back in here until your next lesson. And _do not think_ I will not jump at the next chance to take points from you," Snape threatened.

"I was going to my common room, _Professor_," Hermione said as coldly as she thought she could manage without receiving a detention.

"I'm going to get a Charm's book," Draco said as he hurried after her.

"Stop following me," she said in annoyance as she reached the Fat Lady's portrait. She swung round to shout at Draco but he was gone. "Oh thank God."

"You don't get rid of me that easily, Granger," Draco said, leaning against the wall next to the Fat Lady. He stood away from the wall and took a couple of steps towards her and she instinctively stumbled backwards until she was leaning against the wall behind her.

"Go away," Hermione said, sighing loudly as if Draco was an annoying bug. "You're such a snake." With the light flickering on his face like that he did actually represent a snake somewhat. _A rather attracti- No!_

"Look, I think I should apologise to you," he said.

"Why would you want to apologise to-

"Because I _do_," he added. He liked the fact that she looked slighty taken aback by the new side to him. He smiled. "Look, I'm sorry for calling you a Mudblood. I know we didn't get much work done, what with searching for that Gorp-"

"Grawp," she corrected.

"-creature. But I still enjoyed being with you. Yes, yes, Draco Malfoy the Muggle-hating, egotistical bastard enjoyed being with someone. But, when I say that, I don't think I was alone in enjoying it."

Hermione blinked. _What's he saying this for? He didn't __**enjoy**__ being with me?_

"No way, why would _I_ enjoy being with _you_?" she asked.

"Because when we in the Forest ... I don't think I was alone in what I felt," he said, enjoying the look of horror on her face and knowing that he was right. She knew it too, he could tell by the confusion in her eyes. He took another step closer to her and this time she didn't try to get away.

"So, what did you feel?" she asked, not being able to contain her curiousity. Draco took another few steps forward. He looked up at the paintings and torches that lined the walls. A few windows were letting in some bright daylight and because of this the torches were not burning in their brackets. He watched a wizard sitting in his portrait, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he replied softly and turned away. He began to walk down the hall. The wizard who had previously been stroking his beard watched Draco interestedly. Hermione scowled and turned to the Fat Lady. _Stupid girl, she probably thinks I'm in love with her or something_, Draco thought, smiling as he walked. _Well, at least now she knows I'm sorry._ The malicious thoughts didn't quite touch his heart. Hermione sniffed.

"Jitterbug," she muttered and stormed into the common room.

"There you are!" two voices called as she burst through the entrance. She beamed falsely at her two best friends and sat down with them.

"Playing chess again are you?" she asked, noticing the floor was littered in white pieces. She looked up, surprised. Ron always played with the white pieces.

"Don't say anything, I'm just letting him win," Ron said, blushing furiously with anger. Hermione laughed as Harry puffed out his chest as if he was winning a medal rather than a chess game against his best friend. She leant over and whispered something in Ron's ear as Harry watched curiously. Ron looked at Hermione like he wanted to kiss her and proudly moved his rook forward two spaces. Ron chuckled and ordered his bishop to smash the rook out of the way. "Check. And. Mate!" Ron exclaimed happily. Harry frowned.

"But-"

"No buts, I am still the reigning champion," Ron said, stretching and leaning back on the chair. He scratched his arm and smiled. "No autographs now," he instructed, wriggling his fingers as if he was trying to get rid of cramp. Harry rolled his eyes and threw his king at Ron's head. He missed.

"She helped you!" Harry accused indignantly, pointing at Hermione.

"Sorry, Harry. I just felt so sorry for ickle loser here," she replied, nodding towards Ron who had his eyes shut. They snapped open and he glared at her.

"Fine. That's fine, I'll always be a loser in your eyes," he said melodramatically. They all laughed and yawned simultaneously. The common room door opened and Lavender wondered in, looking upset. She sat down in an armchair near to Ron and he looked at her. "You alright?" he asked. She looked up and smiled nervously at him.

"Yeah, thanks," she said, blushing as he smiled at her. Ron blushed just as much and Lavender giggled quietly. Hermione looked sideways at Harry but found the tempting laughter too difficult to fight.

"I left my books in the, um ... Yeah," she said, jumping up from the chair and running out of the common room, closely followed by Harry. They jumped out of the entrance and collapsed on the floor with laughter.

"Did you see how red they both went?" Harry asked, clutching his stomach. Hermione nodded tears squeezing out of the corners of her eyes.

"That was so cute, but so funny," she said. Harry nodded. They pulled each other up and headed down to the Great Hall.

"Lunch?" he asked, offering an arm. Hermione looked at him, slightly surprised by this gesture but linked her arm with his and they walked down to the stairs.

"Lunch would be great," she said. Harry grinned and was glad that Hermione hadn't noticed the little blush in his cheeks. 

"Um, Harry?" Hermione asked nervously. She didn't know why she was about to say what she was about to say. _It's a stupid idea_, her voice sounded bossily in the back of her head.

"Yeah?" he asked, lowering the goblet of pumpkin juice from his lips and blinking at her. _He looks so innocent. Why am I telling him this?_ Hermione gave a start as she realised that she felt slightly attracted to Harry but pushed the thought out of her head and cleared her throat.

"Um, well, there's something I need to tell you, about what Hagrid's doing," she said, twisting her fingers together under the table and staring at her plate. Harry, seemingly unconcerned, looked at her.

"What?" he asked, raising the goblet to his mouth again. _Now, for the hard part_, she thought.

"I was helping Dra- Malfoy with his Charms homework by the Forest-" Harry spat out his pumpkin juice onto the table.

"You were what?" he asked incredulously.

"He begged me to help him and I had nothing better to do," Hermione said quickly and quietly, thankful that they were sitting at least five places away from everyone else. Their conversation was going unheard so far.

"Right. So you were helping that scum?" Harry asked angrily.

"Listen to me!" she exclaimed, a little louder than she had wanted to.

"Why should I listen to you? You're as good as fraternizing with the enemy!" he accused.

"Harry, you said yourself he seemed nicer towards us-"

"I never said that, it was you and Ron-"

"You were thinking it!" Hermione said, her voice raising above the chatter of everyone else in the Hall. Gradually people began to fall silent and looked in their direction. Hermione glared at a group of Hufflepuff fourth years who were obviously whispering about her. They looked at her nervously as she practically breathed fire onto the tablecloth in front of her.

"I don't see why you're getting angry, you're not the one who's been betrayed," Harry said quietly.

"Betrayed?" she shrieked. "BETRAYED? HOW DARE YOU SAY I'VE BETRAYED YOU! I'VE STUCK BY YOU THROUGH EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING AND YOU SAY I'M A TRAITOR?" she shouted, standing up and marching towards the stairs outside the Hall. Harry stood up so he could get outside, away from all the staring eyes, and rounded on the other house tables.

"Yeah, it's called a fight and you'll all get one if you don't stop eavesdropping," he threatened before storming out of the hall.

_Malfoy? What the hell is she doing with that idiot? For God's sake, she could help me with my Charms homework if she's that desperate to play teacher. I thought she liked me. I thought I liked her. Maybe even loved. She's lost her chance now, I cannot believe she'd do this!_ Harry's thoughts resounded in his head, angry and bitter. He wandered out of the castle and up to Hagrid's hut. He knocked on the door as his eyes filled with tears. Tears for Sirius, his parents, Cedric. Tears for Hermione. The door creaked open and Hagrid yawned loudly.

"Oh, hello Harry," he said, smiling before he saw something was wrong. "Wha's the matter?"

"Where should I begin?" Harry asked, attempting a smile. 

**-Chapter Six-**

_Friends and Enemies_

"Hermione?" Ron asked, touching her shoulder gently and she stared into the fire. She looked up at him and smiled weakly, her eyes brimming with tears. "Oh no, what's wrong?" he asked, sitting down next to her and putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. She leant her head on his shoulder and let the tears spill down her soft cheeks, splashing into her lap. "Hey, c'mon, it can't be that bad-"

"But it is!" she exclaimed, making him and Lavender (who was sitting on the floor in front of the fire) jump.

"What happened?" Lavender asked gently, leaning forward onto her knees so she was right in front of Hermione.

"Harry hates me," Hermione muttered. Lavender's mouth opened in surprise but one look at Ron told her not to say anything, for he looked just as shocked.

"Why?" he asked. Hermione sniffed loudly and wiped the tears that were trickling down her cheeks.

"It- it doesn't matter," she said. She had been about to spill everything to Ron. But that was impossible, with Lavender there. Lavender would find out about Grawp and could get Hagrid into trouble. It wasn't that Hermione didn't trust Lavender but she didn't want anyone to know except Harry and Ron. A painful jab seared across her heart as she thought about Harry's reaction to Grawp. She had lost one of her two best friends. Until then, she hadn't thought about Harry's point of view. It must be so difficult for him, what with losing his parents, seeing Cedric die, losing Sirius - a loud choke escaped Hermione as she thought of her friend - and now he had lost one of his two best friends.

"It does matter, come on, you can tell me," Ron said. Hermione looked up to see that Lavender had gone, probably realising it wasn't her place to stay and not her story to listen to. Hermione took a deep breath and told Ron everything that had happened on Tuesday evening. Ron, unsurprisingly, was furious.

"You touched him?" he asked, keeping the anger in his voice to a minimum. Hermione mumbled something and nodded miserably. "Why?" he asked softly.

"I-don't-know-Ron-but-I-really-like-Harry-and-I-think-I-like-Draco-and-I'm-not-allowed-to-like-you-because-you-like-Lavender-and-I-don't-know-what-to-do!" she exclaimed all in one breath. Ron was taken aback.

_How did she work out that I like Lavender?_ he wondered in his head.

"So, you reckon that's what Hagrid's doing, taking Grawp back to the other giants?" he asked. Hermione nodded and shrugged at the same time.

"Are you disgusted with me?" she asked sadly, looking down at the floor. "Harry is."

"And he has every right to be," Ron stated. "Don't you realise how much he likes you?"

"What?"

"Harry. Likes. You."

A gasp. "What?"

"You heard me," Ron replied. Hermione felt her jaw drop.

"But, but- Why didn't he ever say anything about it-"

"He was afraid you would reject him. As for me, I'm disappointed in you but I don't hate you. If you want I'll tell Harry about Grawp?" he offered. Hermione looked up at him, grateful tears gathering in her eyes.

"But don't say about what happened," she said. "Please, Ron."

"I've already forgotten. Just try to keep away from Malfoy," Ron said. Hermione threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"Oh, Ron! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm so sorry for every time I've argued with you and-"

"It's inevitable that you'll do it again," Ron said, finishing her sentence for her and smiling. "You'd probably better start on your homework."

"Oh, gosh, yes. I was so distracted all afternoon I forgot to note it down, did you?"

"Yes, it's in my bag," Ron said, lazily indicating it. Hermione rushed over and started on her homework and didn't notice Harry trudging miserable into the common room. He looked sadly at her and went to sit with Ron. "Alright, mate?" Ron asked as carelessly as he could manage without feeling too sorry for Harry.

"Mmm," Harry mumbled, collapsing in a chair with grief and exhaustion.

"Well, I'm going to dinner," Ron said loudly, standing up and stretching. Hermione looked up and watched him go, leaving just her and Harry in the common room. She saw Harry and quickly went back to her homework. Harry watched her sadly.

_Just this morning we were all sitting together reading the letter from Remus. We were all friends. Now it's all fallen apart. All because of Malfoy. Because of him, I can't have Hermione_, he thought bitterly. _I'll make him pay._

Hermione woke early the next day and decided to go for a walk before she joined Lavender and Parvati for breakfast. The two were talking civilly again which made Hermione's life much easier as they had both asked to hang around her when they fell out. Hermione still had no idea why they had fallen out in the first place and had no intention of asking in the worry she might cause another argument. Harry had not spoken to her at all night an had thrown a piece of paper down on top of her homework as he left for dinner.

_Look, I'm not going to pretend I want to be friends with you because you did really hurt me. I suppose it will take a while for me to accept this. Why Malfoy? Write back because I can't stand talking to you._

It had brought tears to her eyes and she had written almost a page about what had exactly happened, leaving out the part when she had become too close to Draco for comfort. She still couldn't deny enjoying being that close to her one enemy, she couldn't deny how attractive she found him. She couldn't deny the warmth that had spread through her when he touched her. She couldn't deny it, that was certain, but she had decided to ignore it. She had to rebuild her friendship with Harry. 

_...And that is why you have to believe me that there is nothing between me and Malfoy. You and Ron are my best friends and you know I would NEVER do anything to hurt either of you. You both know I care for you so much and I hope that you can forgive me for what I've done... Love Hermione._

Harry sighed and folded the parchment before placing it in his bag. He turned to Ron and said, "All I can do is believe her, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Look, mate, I think we should apologise to Hermione," Ron replied, wrinkling his nose.

"Apologise," Harry said blankly. "Why?"

"Because she probably decided to help Malfoy because we've been ignoring her. Maybe she thinks we don't want her as a friend or something," Ron suggested, hoping his idea wouldn't sound too stupid. He felt desperately guilty for not telling Harry about what had happened in the Forest but as another stab of treachery hit home, he thought, _Nothing did happen. They hugged, that's all. Or that's all she's telling me. No, Hermione's dealing with enough crap at the moment and she wouldn't lie to me. Would she?_ Ron frowned and then mentally kicked himself for doubting his best friend.

"Mate? What's wrong?" Harry asked. It had turned out he had been talking to Ron and his red-headed friend wasn't even taking it in. Ron felt another pang of guilt and looked at Harry.

"Nothing, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing important," Ron replied hastily. _Too hastily_, he thought.

"About what?" Harry persisted, stopping and sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table. Ron sat down opposite him and wrinkled his nose again.

"Well, I just thought it's strange that Hermione's two best friends are boys. I mean, she hasn't got any girl friends," Ron said, wondering why he hadn't taken this more seriously in the past. Harry nodded and looked at where Hermione was sitting with Lavender and Parvati.

"She's got those two," he said. Ron frowned.

"Not really. They're only hanging out with her because they've fallen out. Other than those two talking to her, and Hannah Abbot, she hasn't really got any friends apart from us and sometimes Gin."

"And I've fallen out with her," Harry said morosely. Ron nodded and they looked at each other.

"I think, perhaps, it's time for you to make your peace," Ron said. And so, Harry got up and walked towards Hermione. She looked up, surprised, as he sat down next to her and took her hands in his. Ron watched and smiled as Harry spoke, not being able to hear what the two were saying. He watched and smiled as Hermione's eyes filled with tears of gratitude and happiness and smiled even more as Hermione burst into tears and threw her arms around Harry. Ron shook his head and took a piece of toast out of the rack in front of him. Harry plonked himself down opposite Ron again and a swishing sound of a cloak sweeping the floor told him that Hermione had joined them.

"I'm leaving them to it," she said, nodding towards Parvati and Lavender who were having a timid conversation. Harry smiled and Ron rolled his eyes.

"I'll never get her on her own," he said under his breath. Hermione looked up, puzzled. Ron saw her and Harry watching him and blushed a deep red. The other two laughed. Harry caught Hermione's eye and they shared a happy smile. Ron grinned embarrassedly as the red faded from his cheeks. None of them saw the jealous Slytherin who was definetely not smiling 

**-Chapter Seven-**

_New 'Do and a Surprise for Ginny_

It was nearly a month after Hermione and Harry's fall-out and make-up and it was time for the first Quidditch match of the year. It was Friday evening in the Gryffindor common room and the Quidditch team were having a last minute meeting. Harry had a small piece of paper in his hand which told him some minor notes he had made at the Gryffindor team's last practice.

When Ginny had tried out for Chaser, she had tried to convince Hermione to join her. Hermione however, who had never sat on a broom and didn't know anything about flying, had turned down the request and stayed immersed in her usual large books. She was grateful that Ginny had not persisted as she was terrified of heights and had been incredibly glad when they had stopped Flying lessons in the first year. Her fear had developed and was now very acute so sometimes the moving staircases were scary enough to her. Ron and Harry never questioned why she gripped the banister fearfully as the flight of stairs swung violently from one direction to another. They hadn't really noticed.

"And then, sorting those things out, we win," Harry concluded, smiling at the team. They all grinned. "Any questions?"

Tom Fabrusi raised his hand. The group turned to look at the tall, muscular Italian boy. He shook his dark hair out of his face and cleared his throat. No one noticed how Ginny flushed a slight pink as she watched this boy from her year.

"Will my Quidditch robes be big enough?" he asked. Everyone laughed and he smiled, obviously embarrassed by his height.

"Hopefully," replied Harry. "Right, bed in ten minutes everyone and that's an order."

The team stood up and stretched and the second-year, Julian Twicke, headed up to his dorm. Tom saw Ginny watching him admiringly and walked over to her. Harry noticed this and looked to Ron who seemed to be fuming.

"Guess we will have to be somewhat of a team?" Tom asked, rubbing his left eye and grinning lopsidedly at Ginny. She smiled and blushed.

"I guess."

They looked at each other awkwardly and Ginny licked her lips nervously.

"Will you go out wi-"

"Ginny!" Ron called hastily, shooting a nasty glance at Tom. Tom returned the look and stomped off to his dorm moodily.

"What?" she asked angrily, rounding on her brother. He flushed just as angrily as she had.

"I - um - Hermione wants you," he stammered, looking at the floor. Hermione who was staring intently at the page of her latest book, _Magical Mistakes - A World of Accident_. Ginny wandered over. Hermione, not noticing her flicked a page and read on. She muttered something to herself in disgust and turned another few pages. Ginny cleared her throat but to no avail as Hermione just slumped down in the armchair even further and began moving her lips as if in silent formation of the words she was reading.

"Hello? Hermione?"

Ginny waved her hands in front of Hermione's face. Hermione jumped and looked up.

"Oh! Sorry, Ginny. I was just reading about a man who tried to Transfigure his mother's birthday present puppy into a cake and ended up eating it and - oh, what's wrong?" she asked, seeing the furious look on Ginny's face. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"I was about to have a decent length conversation with the most gorgeous person in my year and you had to go and ask me over!" accused Ginny. Hermione raised an eyebrow skeptically, pouted and rested her chin on the back of her hand.

"Who told you that?" she asked.

"Ron did and he said you wanted me-" a sudden look of realization dawned on her face. "Ron!"

Ginny spun around to see Ron and Harry hurrying up the stairs to their room. "Ron, I'll kill you!" she shouted. But he did not turn round and the last thing she saw of him was a cheery wave over his shoulder as Harry closed the door behind him, grinning at her. Hermione bit her lip to stop herself from laughing when Ginny shrieked in annoyance. Ginny was cut short when she noticed an owl tapping patiently on the common room window. She hurried over and opened the window, took the letter that the owl had clasped in it's beak and it flew away towards the top of the castle. Ginny didn't recognise the handwriting that elegantly sloped, reading her name - _Ginny._

She opened it hurriedly and all that was on the paper was four lines of small cursive. She scanned it quickly and shrieked again, but this time with happiness. Hermione, who had gone on in her book to a story about the man who turned into a bottle after a dangerous piece of charmwork, looked up with a start.

"What?"

Ginny thrust the small piece of parchment into Hermione's lap. Hermione picked it up and looked at it.

_Ginny,_

_Will you go out with me?_

_I was going to ask you in the common room but your brother prevented me from doing it._

_Love Tom._

"Well?" Hermione asked, looking at Ginny expectantly. "What are you going to say?"

"Oh, well I'll have to sleep on it," replied Ginny. She smiled mishcheviously. "I'm going to bed, got Quidditch tomorrow. You'd better not miss it, we will definetely win now that we have Harry back."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Hermione said, smiling at her friend. She remembered only too well the horror she had faced when Harry had shouted directly at her for the second time in their friendship and was incredibly glad to be shot of the awkward silences.

"Night then," Ginny said, stifling a yawn and heading for the stairs. Hermione smiled halfheartedly as she watched her friend bouncing happily up the stairs. She sat and wished she could be that happy and she wished that she had Ginny's reason as well. The only person she had eyes for was-

"Hermione? Are you going to sleep at all tonight?" a voice asked softly from the top of the stairs. Hermione's head snapped up from her droopy state to see Parvati waiting anxiously at the top of the stairs. "Come on, it's past midnight."

Hermione shook her head, surprised at the amount of time she had been engulfed in her own thoughts and worries. She smiled and nodded in affirmation and got up from the armchair. She picked up her _Magical Mistakes_ book which had fallen on the floor and headed up the stairs towards her room. 

Harry and Ron awoke suddenly the next morning and decided to cope with their nerves by a good game of chess in the common room. They whispered to each other, over Neville's snores and judging by the lumps in Dean and Seamus's beds, they were the only two awake. Harry hissed something under his breath that sounded distinctly like, "Seamus had bloody better not miss the match." Ron nodded and winced as he put his feet on the cold stone floor in the dormitory and hurried to the comfort of the common room carpet. Harry took a piece of parchment and a quill with him and when Ron inquired as to why, he simply stated he wanted to owl Remus. Ron nodded and did not pester Harry for information why, understanding that Harry probably wanted to talk about Sirius. He sat and watched the fire crackling merrily as Harry hastily scribbled along the parchment. He finished quickly and they started a fierce game, every now and then a cry of triumph as they took each other's pieces. After ten minutes of playing, footsteps told them someone else had arrived downstairs and as Ron looked up, Harry quickly swapped two pieces around. Hermione saw this and laughed.

"What?" Ron asked, his head flicking back round to see Harry smiling innocently.

"Your hair," Hermione said, controlling her urge to tell him about Harry. This was no doubt how Harry had been winning before. Ron shrugged.

"No one important can see me," he said, still running a hand over his hair to absolutely no effect.

"Cheers!" Harry exclaimed.

"Thanks!" Hermione cried in a strangled voice, looking hurt.

"Oh, come on you guys. You know I mean about-"

"Lavender," Harry and Hermione finished for him. They looked at each other and laughed, traces of their fall-out completely gone now. Ron shrugged his embarrassment away and resumed playing but Hermione could still see faint traces of red on his face. He studied the chess board and Harry watched as Ron traced an invisible line in between Harry's swapped pieces.

Ron muttered something to himself and changed the pieces places. Harry let out a cry that would normally be heard from a wounded animal.

"What?" Ron asked, as if he was not expecting this reaction. Harry cleared his throat loudly and pointed at the two pieces. Ron looked up and smiled angelically, mirroring Harry's previous innocent expression. Hermione laughed and wandered towards the portrait hole. Ron looked at her inquiringly. "Where you going?" he asked as Harry indignantly changed the pieces again.

"I'm going to get some breakfast before everyone's down there and then I'll probably send an owl to Tonks. After that I'll finish off my Transfiguration homework before the match."

"You haven't finished it?" Harry asked, gasping in mock-amazement. His hands were fiercely holding onto his rook and his knight as Ron tugged at his arms.

"Stop - cheating," Ron said breathlessly, giving up from fighting against Harry's Quidditch-induced muscles. Hermione shook her head, smiling, and left the common room. She noticed her reflection in a window and stopped. She took out her wand and held it next to her hair, trying to remember the spell to keep it under control and reasonably straight. This handy trick had been taught to her by Parvati. _I guess being friends with her and Lavender does have some benefits_, Hermione thought to herself ruefully.

"Straighten out," she commanded and a visible energy flowed out of the end of her wand. It had a slightly purple tinge and her hair flattened as it smoothed across it. Pleased with the result, she put her wand back into her pocket and patted her hair. She strolled down towards the Great Hall. 

"Wow, your hair looks nice, Hermione," Seamus told her as he and Dean sat down a few spaces away from her. She blushed and smiled gratefully.

"Thanks," she said, watching him whisper something to Dean. Dean nodded and she caught him glance at her before whispering audibly, "Definetely a good change."

Hermione raised her eyebrows and smiled at him, making him realise she had worked out what they were talking about. He bit his lip and looked at the table in front of him before opening his mouth. "Why do you have to be so damn clever?"

"Sorry, I'll try not to overhear you _shouting_ next time," she retorted, rolling her eyes and taking a piece of toast. Soon she was greeted by Parvati and Lavender who were friends again. Sort of.

"Ooh, Hermione! You used that spell that Parvati told you," Lavender said, sitting next to her.

"It looks really nice, 'Mione," said Parvati, settling into the place opposite her. Hermione smiled.

"I would never have thought that a simple spell would make it calm down, I used so much of that silly gel for the Yule Ball in our fourth year," she replied, munching on her toast. For some unknown reason, Lavender glanced up at the staff table, where Juliette Gardé was watching them keenly.

"She's creepy," Lavender hissed, nodding towards her. Hermione and Parvati nodded fervently.

"She's always watching Harry," Hermione said, swallowing some more orange juice.

"And why are you concerned by that, 'Mione?" Parvati asked, a playful lilt in her tone.

"Does somebody have a crush?" Lavender asked. Hermione looked up, wondering what to tell them and as she did, she saw Draco Malfoy watching her. He gave a shy smile and went back to talking with Goyle. She waited for a couple of seconds until he looked at her again and returned the smile to him. He said something to Goyle, obviously trying to hide the huge grin that was spreading unmercifully across his face.

"Erm, well ... As a matter of fact, I do," Hermione said briskly, in a business-like tone. In an instant, Lavender and Parvati had dissolved in to girlish giggles. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"That's _so_ cute!"

"Yeah, I _always_ thought you and Harry would make a lovely couple," Parvati said.

"Oh, I didn't mean-"

"I felt a bit guilty at the Yule Ball, I was expecting you wanted to go with him," she continued.

"Yes, but I don't like him in that-"

"We have to set you two up on a date!" Lavender cried. Parvati clapped her hands excitedly.

"Ooh, 'Mione, please let me do your hair," she begged, leaning across the table, grabbing Hermione's hands and knocking over all three girls' goblets in succession.

"No," Hermione replied, pulling her hands away.

"Why not?" Lavender asked, as if it was a scandalous thing to say. Parvati frowned.

"If you're shy, we'll tell you what to do-"

"I don't like Harry in that way. He's my _friend_," Hermione interrupted firmly.

"Oh," Parvati said, looking disappointed. Then the challenge of finding out who Hermione liked dawned on her. "Oh!"

"What?"

"Who do you like then?" Lavender and Parvati asked in unison. Hermione smiled and shook her head.

"Like I'd tell you two gossips," she said. The other two girls looked slightly hurt. Then, on realising that Hermione was joking, they laughed and told her they agreed.

"I wouldn't tell myself anything, if I was someone else," Parvati said. Lavender nodded.

"Well, I'm done with breakfast, so I'm going to go and do some homework before the big match. See you two in the stands," Hermione said, getting up from the table and making her way back to the common room. 

_Quidditch Robes_

"And now it's Gryffindor - one hundred and eighty, Slytherin - twenty. Come on Slytherin Chasers, I'm sure you _can_ catch up! Although the Gryffindor front line are the best I've seen in years. A well hit Bludger from Julian Twicke and- look at that! Seamus Finnigan hit it straight into Phillip Danes! The Gryffindors will enjoy celebrating that one!" Dean Thomas cried into the loudspeaker. He had taken over from Lee Jordan and was highly biased to everyones' surprise; Dean's dislike for the Slytherins normally went unspoken.

"And Ron Weasley deserves a medal for that fantastic save! Weasley is our king! Thanks to the Slytherin's for that lovely little song, obviously not much use to those idiots-"

"Thomas, if you can't commentate in an unbiased way," McGonagall threatened, although seconds before, she too had been jumping up and down on the spot ecstatically after watching Ron's save.

"Right, Professor, sorry about that. And Ginny Weasley has caught the Quaf- the Snitch has been seen!"

True, Malfoy had swung around in mid-air and was flying straight towards the ground on his Nimbus 2001. Harry's head snapped around and he saw Malfoy.

"No!" he yelled hoarsely. No one heard him, the crowd only cheered louder as he tore after Draco, his Firebolt's pace catching up with the Nimbus. "Come on, come on," he urged his broom on, flattening himself against the length of it. But, Draco's outstretched fingers closed around the flitting ball and the Slytherin stand hissed angrily. Harry wondered why for a second until-

"Oh no! Malfoy has caught the snitch - but Gryffindor win!" Dean screamed into the microphone happily as the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff stands erupted with cheers and applause. Harry grinned as he saw the scoreboard, Gryffindor had still ten points more. It felt just like the ending of the world cup, except Harry was Lynch, the unfortunate Seeker who had crashed twice. Luckily, Harry had remained in the air for the entire game. But that would not stop him from feeling remorseful. 

"How did I not catch the Snitch? How?" Harry moaned as he and Ron left the showers. Draco walked past them and received nasty looks from both Gryffindors. He merely smiled and said, "good game, Gryffindors."

"What?" Ron hissed as they started to head up to Hagrid's hut; they had promised to visit him after the match. Harry shrugged, feeling annoyed.

"Dunno, he was probably taking the mick," he said, stomping across the cabbage patch.

"Careful, Harry!" Hagrid yelled, jumping out and pulling him away from the cabbage patch quickly. "You'll ruin them Grey Hopps I'm growin' fer Professor Sprout," he added, beaming proudly. Harry smiled because not many people trusted Hagrid after he had accidently admitted about being a half-giant. He apologised and they went into his hut, just as Hermione was heading for the showers. 

"Harry! Seamus wants to talk to you, he says it's urgent," Hermione called as she poked her head around the changing room door. It was empty and Hermione wrinkled her nose in distaste at the instant smell that hit her. Trying to breathe strictly through her mouth, she wandered into the changing room, looking around to see if there was any sign of anyone. The only thing she saw was smoky steam curling along the floor towards her feet, streaming out from under the door to the showers. Unwilling to open the door on some unsuspecting Quidditch player, she sat on one of the benches. Soon she grew uncomfortable and twisted so she was lying on her front, her legs stretched across the bench. She rested her chin on her left hand and watched the door expectantly over her shoulder.

The running water turned off, but Hermione was now so absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn't notice. But the door to the showers squeaking loudly was too obvious to not notice and she looked, switching her chin onto her right hand so she could swivel around. To her amazement, it wasn't Harry, Ron or even Ginny. It was Draco Malfoy. He had his school trousers on but unbuttoned so they hung loosely around his waist and his green Quidditch robes were draped jauntily around his shoulders, making his fair skin look even more pearly-white. They fell open across his chest and the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. His blonde hair wasn't sleek, but was scruffy and falling in front of his surprised grey eyes that had widened in shock as he saw Hermione.

"Hermione, what are you - how - why - why are you here?" he asked, scratching his arm nervously. Only now did she noticed how toned his upper body was, no doubt from playing Quidditch. Hermione went to open her mouth to speak, but she was surprised to realise that it already was hanging open unattractively.

"I ... um," she faltered, trying not to let her eyes stray across his well-muscled chest. "I was looking for Harry."

"Well, your boyfriend's not here," Draco replied, a smirk creeping onto his features.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Hermione began indignantly. "He is my-"

"Why not?" he asked sharply, looking at her appraisingly.

"Because he's my _friend_," Hermione said. To her surprise, she was on her feet and had her arms folded menacingly. Draco wasn't much taller than her.

"Why, doesn't he fancy you?" Draco continued, teasing her. Hermione took a deep breath, ready to let out a series of insults and complaints that people don't fancy their friends. She was cut off, however, as Draco clamped a hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened angrily but Draco shook his head. "There's someone coming. You're not meant to be in here," he said, taking his hand away from her mouth. A small tingle ran over her skin from where he had touched her.

"Why not?"

"A - this is the _Quidditch players_ changing room. And B - it's the _boys_' changing room," he said, smiling widely as her mouth fell open in horror.

"The boys' room?" she asked, horrified. Draco rolled his eyes and nodded. He grabbed her arm and swung her through into the shower room.

"Stay here and don't make a sound," he whispered before swirling back round to face-

"Alright Danes?" he asked casually.

"Who were you talking to?" a hoarse voice asked softly.

"No one," Draco replied.

"Yeah, ok," Danes replied suspiciously. Hermione held her breath. "What're you doing?"

"Getting changed, I was in the shower," Draco said coldly.

"Well hurry up-"

"I'll take as long as I like, Danes," Draco snapped. "What year are you in?"

"Four," Danes replied sourly. Hermione heard someone scuffing their foot on the tiled floor.

"And I'm in year ..."

"Six," Danes said, angry and not ashamed to hide it.

"Well done. Now, I'm busy. So clear off and don't come back until our next Quidditch practice, which I don't believe is until next Wednesday. Bye," Draco said. Hermione opened the door so a tiny crack of what was going on was visible. Danes was tall and stocky with short blonde hair that was plastered across his scalp. She wondered why until she noticed that it was raining outside. Danes was standing his ground, looking at Draco with surprising nerve. Not many fourth years, even tall ones, had the courage to stand up to Draco Malfoy.

Hermione allowed her attention to wander onto different matters. _Hmm, I wonder if Ron and Harry have started their homework yet_, she thought. _We've got Charms, Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures. Oh and I still need to do my Ancient Runes. That'll take me ages, I'd better go back up to the common room._

Her thoughts were interrupted as the door swung open loudly. She jumped backwards to avoid being hit.

"Sorry, I didn't think you'd be right behind the door," Draco said, smirking at her.

"Well, I was. Don't take much into account, do you?" she replied.

"Why are you always so angry?" he asked, stepping forwards so they were a couple of feet apart.

"I'm not!" she said hotly.

"See, you are now. Calm down," Draco said soothingly. "I like your hair," he added, eyeing her soft tresses.

"Thanks," Hermione replied, self-conciously patting her hair which was still bolt straight. In a second, Draco had his wand out and was pointing it at her face. "What the-"

"I think it would look nicer with a little more life. _Liven up_," he said. A small beam of greyish blue light connected with her hair and suddenly a few parts of it were in loose ringlets. Hermione raised an eyebrow and ran a hand through the curls.

"Where did you learn that?" she asked, supressing a giggle at the thought that Draco would make a good hairdresser.

"Saw my mother do it once," he said. All of a sudden, Hermione realised that they were now only inches away from each other. She looked unblushingly into his grey eyes and saw that they were a slight tinge of blue. This made her remember his comment about her own eyes.

"Likewise," she said softly. Confusion splashed across Draco's normally calm and collected face.

"What-" but he was cut off as Hermione gently pressed her lips against his. It was a smooth, fast motion and caught him completely off his guard. He suddenly felt very weak and almost collapsed onto the floor. For support, he placed his hands on her shoulders and shifted his weight onto both legs. _Oh, shit, bad move_, he thought as his knees began to tremble. Hermione's hands were touching his chest, sending shivers down his spine. She made to put her hands on his shoulders and his Quidditch robes fell loosely to the floor with a soft thump, exposing his upper torso. Draco moaned softly as their lips parted and their tongues bumped together clumsily.

Hermione opened her eyes as she drew back from the soft kiss and saw Draco's face was slightly flushed. She pressed her own lips together nervously and took a step backwards. Draco's eyes flew open and searched her own. Neither of them knew what to do.

"You have beautiful eyes," she explained, kissing him on the cheek and leaving swiftly.

Draco turned and watched her go back up to the castle with his mouth open, still in surprise. Then, he gave in and allowed himself to sink onto the floor, his knees buckling completely. He touched his lips that were still tingling and closed his eyes. Draco hugged his knees to his chest, running his hands down his shins, over his school trousers. He shivered slightly and tipped his head back against the cold wall, his Quidditch robes lying forgotten on the floor. 

**-Chapter Nine-**

_The Moth Charm_

"_Pap-ilin-ah-sum_!"

"No, it's _Papillorus_," Hermione corrected Ron, waving her wand at the feather in front of her. It gave off a soft yellow light that flickered around it.

"Oh excellent! Excellent!" Professor Flitwick cried, clapping his hands excitedly. "Look everyone, Miss Granger has mastered the Moth Charm, a very difficult light-bringing spell. NEWT standard. Impressive, Miss Granger, ten points to Gryffindor-" Hermione swelled with pride and Ron and Harry grinned at her, "Now, really try to get it to _shine_, Miss Granger." He watched expectantly as the three turned back to their objects.

"Nice one," Ron whispered. Her success seemed to rub off on both him and Harry as they managed to complete the charm. Ron's door handle glowed a fierce green-yellow and Harry's seemed to float off the desk slightly whilst glowing quite brightly. Hermione beamed at them and concentrated on her feather. This time, the light around it shone very brightly and the three students closed their eyes at the white light.

"Ah, bright," Flitwick hummed happily. He muttered a countercharm, "_Nuitantius_-" and the feather became dull and dark once more. "Another five points, I think," he muttered before practically skipping away. Ron and Harry shared a look.

"Mad," Harry whispered. Hermione smiled and, having mastered that lesson's work, started to play with the feather.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_," she commanded. The feather floated away and as she moved her wand, it followed it.

Hermione's wand was not the only thing being followed. It was two days since Hermione had spoken to Draco in the changing rooms - _Boys changing rooms_, she remembered with a shudder. He watched her avidly as she waved her wand around boredly. She stifled a yawn and looked up, straight at Draco. Their eyes met and he quickly looked away, embarrassed.

At the end of Charms, Hermione hurried away without a word to Draco. He watched her go and sighed loudly.

"What?" Crabbe asked gruffly, wiping his nose on his sleeve. Draco grimaced and tried not to look at him.

"Nothing. Am I not allowed to sigh?" he replied irritably. Goyle opened his mouth to say something but before he could start his sentence, Draco had stormed out of the room. Over the past two days, since Hermione had kissed him, new emotions had been released in his being. He no longer felt in control of himself and disliked it incredibly. He stalked down the halls, pausing to look at pictures on the wall. He noticed things he'd never noticed before. _This is stupid, one kiss and I'm 'appreciating life'_, Draco mused. _And it's not like I haven't kissed my fair share of girls and more than my fair share too. Obviously there's just something about this girl-_ his thoughts were cut off as he bumped into someone.

"Sorry," he mumbled and carried on.

"What?" a voice asked incredulously. Draco turned round to see that he had walked straight into Harry Potter, of all people. Draco forced a weak smile, even though he didn't feel at all like smiling.

"I walked into you. Sorry," he repeated and was about to turn away but found himself bursting into laughter at the expression on Harry's face. "What?" he asked innocently.

Harry found himself torn. He could either join in laughing or he could slam Draco up against the wall and threaten him off Hermione.

"Nothing," Harry replied quickly and turned away from Draco. _Would I rather have no enemies in school-_ Harry paused as he thought of Crabbe and Goyle. _Well, they can't do anything against me, can they? Would I rather have everyone on my side, or do I want Hermione? What am I thinking, why would she go for me? We are_ friends_, nothing else._

He wandered off towards the lunch room and found himself thinking about who the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was. He obviously knew them. Lupin? Moody? Becoming lost in his thoughts, Harry didn't notice when he had arrived at the Gryffindor table.

"Harry?" Hermione asked, watching him as he sat down absentmindedly. He blinked and, as if he suddenly realised where he was, looked around.

"Yeah?" he replied, taking a sip from his pumpkin juice, trying to clear the hundreds of thoughts that clouded his mind over. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwards.

"Want a massage?" a voice asked from his side. It was Parvati. She blushed and smiled awkwardly. Harry was so shocked he didn't think about his untactful answer.

"Not really," he said, jutting out his chin and frowning at her. She blushed even more and turned away, looking disappointed. Lavender and Hermione giggled whilst Harry and Ron shared dark looks that clearly read, "Girls, who needs 'em?" 

Because Christmas was approaching fast, the teachers were bustling around in between lessons, directing decorations with a flick of their wands. Hagrid could be seen on the outskirts of the Forest, cutting down trees for the Great Hall. The later days of December had greeted the students with snow, and lots of it. It was falling thick and fast by the end of lunchtime and although no one wanted to do nothing more than laze around in their common rooms or even go outside for a snowball fight, they had Defense Against the Dark Arts that afternoon. They had finally been told that today, after numerous substitute teachers, they had their real teacher.

Harry, Ron and Hermione pondered aloud about who it could be as they traipsed up to the classroom. It was empty and they took up their usual seats, got out their sixth year books and waited. Then, the side door leading to the teacher's chamber opened and as the teacher walked out, the three grinned at each other.

"Good afternoon," he boomed, looking down upon the rapt students. "I'm so sorry that I haven't taught you yet; it's been a whole term but I trust your substitute teachers have taught you well. I am Professor Shacklebolt," he said. "Now, some of you I recognise from past encounters." He looked pointedly at Harry, Ron and Hermione who smiled again. The rest of the class watched him interestedly.

"He's cool," Dean Thomas whispered loudly and Shacklebolt smiled.

"Take out your wands, please," he said. They was a slight bustle whilst everyone retrieved their wands and then silence again. "I have heard that many of you attended the DA meetings last year, could you just put your hands up if you did?"

Nearly the entire class put up their hands and he smiled at them. "Thankyou. As this is the beginning, or middle shall we say, of your first NEWT year, you will be studying Patronuses. I think we will have a volunteer. I know that a certain person can produce an expertly done Patronus. Harry, would you show us, please?"

Harry stood up and walked to the front of the classroom. He looked up and remembered the day that Umbridge had been chased out of the castle.

"Expecto Patronum!" he cried and out shot the stag. It meandered to the back of the classroom and then back to Harry.

"Excellent," Shacklebolt said enthusiastically. "Now, could you tell us the happy memory you concentrated on to produce that stag?" he asked. Harry grinned nervously.

"I focused on the day that Umbridge left," he said sheepishly. Every student burst into laughter and Shacklebolt smiled.

"Well, as a member of the Ministry I expect I'm not allowed to comment on that," he said, his dark eyes twinkling merrily. Harry grinned and returned to his seat. "Well, obviously for Harry that was a happy thought which I expect all of you _do_ know is needed to produce a real Patronus. Only a small percentage of wizards in the world can produce a proper Patronus. It is very advanced magic which is why we will only be studying it. Has anyone else here ever produced one?" As quite a few of the class had managed it in the Dumbledore's Army meetings, most of the class nodded discreetly, no one really wanted to be called up to the front.

Hermione's hand shot up. Kingsley Shacklebolt smiled at her and nodded for her to perform the charm. She stood up, cleared her throat nervously and walked to the front. Suddenly, the memory from two days before in the boys changing rooms flicked into her mind. Fighting back a wide grin, she raised her wand.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Her otter flew from her wand's end and flitted about her feet before rushing down the classroom and back again. Professor Shacklebolt clapped his hands together twice to calm down the excited chatter as she returned to her seat.

"I think ten points apiece for Harry and Hermione for completing some of the most difficult magic you will learn at Hogwarts," he said and all the Gryffindors grinned. "It's compulsory that you learn the theory behind the charm first."

He turned and began to write on the board, his writing large and round. The Gryffindors began to copy down the basic applications of the Patronus Charm. 

That evening, Ron seemed to be restless. He was going over his Defense Against the Dark Arts homework and muttering to himself, waving his wand around. Hermione looked over at him from her comfortable place beside the fire. Harry was sprawled lazily on the sofa, absentmindedly stroking Crookshanks, occasionally stopping to look at Ron's progress.

"Why doesn't he have a rest?"

"Dunno," Harry replied. He winced as Crookshanks tested his claws in Harry's thigh. "Ow, evil cat. Hey Ron?" he called, pushing Crookshanks off, much to the cat's dislike. Ron looked up irritably.

"I'm trying to work, Harry," he said, putting down his quill. "What do you want?"

"Do you want to relax a bit? It's the weekend," Hermione said gently, sitting back on her heels.

"I know but if I get all my homework done now, then I don't need to worry about it for the rest of the weekend. I want to get some Quidditch practice in too, God knows I need it."

"Ron, you're getting really good," Harry said earnestly. Ron looked at him furiously. "Not that you were bad or anything before," he added hastily. Ron shrugged and cleared his throat, turning back to his parchment. Hermione shrugged and looked at Crookshanks, who was scraping his claws down the back of an armchair. Just then there was a loud scream from outside the common room entrance. Everyone looked up at the portrait swung open and Lavender Brown walked inside, smoothing her skirt.

"Who screamed?" asked Hermione, looking up at her. Lavender pointed to herself and sat down opposite Ron. "Why?"

"Draco Malfoy was annoying me," Lavender said simply. Hermione started, her mouth fell open. She recomposed herself and cleared the lump that was forming in her throat. Ron looked up, dropping his quill.

"What?" she asked. "What did he do?"

"He was standing outside the portrait when I came back and started asking me to get you. No idea why, he seemed to want to _talk_ to you. I told him there was no chance that he would get in here as long as his father was who he was. He pulled out his wand and-"

"Bastard," Ron interrupted. "How dare he-"

"I was fine. I said I would scream and he looked nervous. Then I did and he ran off," Lavender finished. Ron looked unbelievably impressed and continued to watch Lavender as though she was going to continue. Hermione got up and started to walk to the dormitory. She paused by Harry's chair.

"Harry?" she whispered. He looked up at her. "Can I borrow Hedwig?"

"Yeah, alright then, what for-"

"Doesn't matter. Thanks," Hermione gushed as she hurried towards Harry's dorm. Hedwig was inside and Hermione looked up at her. "Hedwig, I need you to take someone a letter for me," she said. Hedwig hooted dolefully in the only response that she knew. She swooped down and landed on Hermione's shoulder. Hermione quickly hurried into her own dorm. She grabbed a piece of parchment.

_Draco,  
>why were you waiting outside my common room? - Hermione<em>

She gave it to Hedwig who immediately took flight. Hermione sat on her bed and stretched, yawning widely. It was almost nine and she felt exhausted. _No matter, it's Saturday tomorrow. And then, next week we break up for Christmas_, she thought, smiling to herself. A gust of wind poured in through the window that Hedwig had left through. Hermione shivered and crossed the room to close it. Just as she was pulling it tightly shut, Hedwig appeared around the corner of the tower. Letting her in, Hermione saw her name on the piece of parchment. The writing looked different.

_I need to talk to you. Meet me at the foot of the Astronomy tower as soon as you can._

Hermione frowned. She delved in her schoolbag and fetched out the letter Draco had written to her a few weeks ago. On comparing the two, there was a definete change. Hermione bit her lip and decided to go for it. She had been meaning to talk to Draco ever since she had kissed him in the changing rooms. She left the room quickly and headed to the portrait. Lavender and Ron had their heads bowed, solving Ron's homework and Harry was gazing into the fire. Hermione realised with a start it was roughly a year since Sirius' head had appeared there. She stepped out of the common room and felt her heart skip a beat as someone grabbed her shoulder from behind her. 

**-Chapter Ten-**

_Christmas Fireworks_

Draco tugged Hermione into an empty classroom. She opened her mouth to ask about the note but he clamped his hand over it. He closed the door carefully and leant against it, sighing. He removed his hand from her mouth and rubbed his eyes, seemingly fazed. He sighed again, more loudly this time and looked at her.

"My father is here," he explained. Hermione raised an eyebrow. "He heard from Goyle, damn him, Gregory Goyle's father that I was being friendly to you lot. So, he's here to check up on me." He slumped down and sat with his back against the door. Hermione sat opposite him, crossing her legs neatly and looking into his pale grey eyes. "Bastard," Draco added as an afterthought. Hermione was shocked, she had never heard Draco fulminate against his father. Normally Draco was the meer bystander when Lucius Malfoy arrived on the scene, watching and sneering at his father's nasty comments.

"How did Goyle's dad find out?" Hermione asked. Draco glared at the floor and stamped his feet impatiently.

"Stupid idiot writes to his father all the time, blethering on about this and that. He just happened to mention that I wasn't talking to him or Crabbe and I was being nicer to-" he looked up, a pink tinge creeping into his cheeks, "You."

It was Hermione's turn to blush. Draco held her gaze for a moment and then dropped his eyes to the cold marble floor again. She cleared her throat quietly and murmured, "Do they know about-"

"No," Draco said, not looking at her. "And I don't want them to. Well, I mean, I don't care, but I don't want them to..." he trailed off, finally looking up into her eyes.

"What?"

Draco mumbled something that was hardly audible. Hermione looked at him and he rolled his eyes.

"Give you trouble," he said, slightly louder. Hermione, suddenly overcome by this burst of protective emotion spilling from him as his cheeks flushed and he stared out the ground, threw her arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace. He gasped out as she completely knocked the breath from his lungs and patted her back gently. "Erm, there there?" he asked. She giggled into his shoulder.

"Sorry," she breathed, sitting back and smiling slightly. "It's just so sweet that you-"

"I don't _do_ sweet," he snarled through gritted teeth. She watched him uncertainly until he grinned. They both fell about laughing, though neither of the sixteen year olds was sure why. 

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked, finally looking up as Lavender disappeared into her dormitory. Harry looked up, dazed. He had been staring longingly into the fire, willing Sirius to appear there, completely losing track of time.

"Er, I dunno," he said, sniffing back the tears that had been fighting their way to his cheeks. "Maybe she went to bed early?"

"Yeah," said Ron, looking over at the portrait hole suspiciously, wondering where she could have gone.

Ron looked back to Harry. "I expect that's it." 

Meanwhile in the classroom just down the hall from where Ron and Harry were peacefully gazing into the fire, Hermione was leaning against Draco's shoulder. It was just as peaceful as the soft snow falling outside the window. She moved slightly to fit herself against his natural breathing rhythm. He tipped his head and balanced it against hers, his heart beating excitedly in his chest.

Draco took a deep breath to steady himself; he was really sitting on the floor. He was really with Hermione Granger. He was really holding her in his arms.

He was really falling in love.

He gulped and turned to look at her. Sensing his gaze, she looked up at him and smiled. A warm, shivering feeling ran through his veins and he held her tighter, not wanting to let go.

"What's wrong?"

Draco started when she spoke, it had broken through the quiet atmosphere they were sharing. Her voice had rung out like a soft rhapsody, a melody that calmed his inner fears of his father.

"Draco?" Hermione pressed. She felt concerned now, he looked like he was in a daze. She sat back, so his arms fell lifelessly to his sides, and peered into his eyes. He blinked and looked at her, as if seeing her truly for the first time.

"What? Oh - er, nothing," he said, looking down at the floor again. Hermione suddenly realised why he wasn't talking. He was scared of Lucius. To her, he looked small and vulnerable, scared and childish. Like a seven year old being shouted at properly for the first time, he seemed unable to hold back his shock and fear. In one swift movement, in her hope to reassure him, Hermione pulled him to her, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a soft kiss on his cold lips. His eyes darted up to meet her own, confused and relieved at the same time.

"The floor's cold." Hermione, who had taken off her cloak in the common room, was only in her uniform which was not designed for warmth. Draco pulled her close and threw his cloak around them. Hermione shivered as their bodies pressed together, a new warmth flooding through her.

In response to this, thinking she was still cold, Draco conjured up a small fire in the blackened fireplace. Only then, Hermione appreciated the darkness that had consumed them as they talked and kissed; kisses soft, sweet and passionate and ravenous.

Kisses showing how much they deeply needed and wanted each other.

The two moved closer to the fire. They settled a few feet from it. Without another word, they descended to the floor. Draco was above Hermione, planting sweet kisses along her jawline. Then, they lay together, completely still and silent.

Savouring each other's company. 

The next morning at breakfast, Ron and Harry noticed Hermione was in a very good mood. When asked why she was so happy, she replied with a big smile on her face, "Am I not allowed to be a morning person?"

"You never have been before," Harry muttered. Hermione smiled again and took a sip from her orange juice. A hoot from above told her the owl post had arrived and she looked up to see a graceful eagle owl soaring towards her. She concealed the grin aching to spread across her face as she recognised the bird. It released it's small note and disappeared again in a shot. Looking up, she saw Draco watching her. She held his gaze and smiled back at him before turning to the letter.

_Hermione,  
>I'm glad I managed to talk to you last night about my father. He's left now and I want to talk to you. Meet me on the Quidditch pitch as soon as you get this, I can't wait til tonight to see you. Love, Draco<em>

Hermione felt a warmth spreading through her, tingling in the tips of her fingers that shook as she read the note. She looked over to the Slytherin table again to see that he had gone. Ron and Harry were watching her curiously. She yawned widely and stretched, nearly knocking over her goblet.

"Well, I'm going to go for a walk. I'll see you in the common room later," she said, standing up and walking briskly to the Entrance Hall.

"D'you get the feeling Hermione's not telling us something?" Ron asked as Harry started on another piece of toast. In response, he just shrugged and Ron looked to the doors, feeling slightly suspicious.

When she reached the Entrance Hall, Hermione broke into a run. She sprinted all the way to the Quidditch pitch, where she slowed down to gain her breath. It appeared before her as mist on the cold and she felt her cheeks turning slightly pink with the frigid air. She rounded the corner to see Draco standing, evidently waiting for her. He turned, as if he sensed her presence, and as one they flew together and clung to one another for what seemed an age. 

To celebrate Christmas before all the pupils left this year, Dumbledore had arranged for a bonfire night. With fireworks and a feast, it was an excitedly anticipated event. Professor Sprout had spent every lunchtime making a large impervious bonfire. Professor Flitwick had enlisted the help of several students to house a huge number of fireworks that was rumoured to be the biggest display in Europe, ever. On the day of the celebrations, Ron and Hermione were helping Hagrid keep the snow off the fire. Harry was in the common room working.

_Tap, tap./_

Harry looked up irritably. There was no one in the common room but him. It was the last free afternoon before most of the students left and everyone was out on the grounds or helping with any last minute arrangements for that evening's event. He went back to finishing his Potions.

_Tap, tap._

"What?" he asked, his tone annoyed. He looked towards the window and saw what was making the tapping, it was an elegant barn owl. Harry didn't recognise it but crossed the room and opened the window to allow it inside. It was carrying a large box along with another owl. Written on the box in large black letters was his name. He took the box from the owls which immediately disappeared over the horizon at breakneck speed. Opening it, Harry saw a row of amazing fireworks and a note that was also addressed to him. He unfolded the note.

_Harry,  
>considering that you are our financer and good friend, we thought we'd help you enjoy tonight's celebrations with some Filbuster's No Heat, Wet Start Fireworks. We took a lot of care in keeping them dry so make sure no one touches them until tonight. Wondering about the owls? Due to all the business letters we have to send, we bought ourselves each an owl, with your kind funding, to help us keep on top of things. Also, Errol appears to be on his last legs, or should we say wings? Enjoy tonight, see you tomorrow.<em>

_Fred and George Weasley_

_Managers of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes._

Harry grinned and put the lid back on the box, not wanting to spoil the carefully packaged fireworks. He couldn't wait to tell Ron and Hermione. To hell with Potions, he was going to help Hagrid. 

The rest of the day passed unbelievably quickly for the Trio. The main other person who was anticipating the evening was Draco. Because it grew dark so quickly in the winter, the firework show was being held considerably early, at seven. The feast commenced at six, leaving the students a short time to get ready and finish any homework. Harry and Ron, who had finished helping Hagrid, had returned to the common room and were relaxing in front of the merrily crackling fire. Hermione had disappeared to the Charms corridor to take the fireworks to Flitwick.

"Thankyou, Miss Granger. These will prove most interesting," Flitwick said happily. Hermione smiled and turned to leave, bumping into someone.

"Watch where you're going, Granger," a voice hissed and she looked startled. A wink, a small smile and a nod were exchanged before the Slytherin headed on his way. Hermione smiled and watched him slip elegantly round a corner. He was really hers. She grinned and almost skipped back to the common room, Flitwick watching her with a confused look on his face. 

After the grand feast had finished and the plates had been cleared, Dumbledore stood up at the top of the hall and clapped his hands together once, bringing complete silence to the hall.

"Thankyou," he said. "Now, house by house, we shall lead down to the grounds, round the edge of the Forbidden Forest and into the arena for the Christmas firework display. Then, following that, we shall procede to the bonfire. Those of you who are too ill, tired, or just can't be bothered may leave now. I do recommend you watch the firework display as this will be the biggest in Europe for a millenium. So, if you would leave the hall in this order - Gryffindors, followed by Hufflepuffs, then Ravenclaws and last but most certainly not least, Slytherins."

There was a commotion as the house stood up and bustled towards the door. Looking back over her shoulder, Hermione saw Draco watching her. She gave a half-smile and followed Professors Vector and McGonagall out of the hall, the rest of her fellow Gryffindors behind her.

"Ron, I'm just going to the toilet," she said to him over the excited chatter and clattering of feet against the cold stone floor. "Tell Harry I'll meet you both in a bit." Ron nodded at this and he and Harry continued on while she ducked into the toilets. She waited until she could hear Luna Lovegood go past.

"Yes, I was saying to my friend Ginny, you know - Gryffindor. I cannot believe that has been so gravely overlooked. It's ridiculous, my father said..." her dreamy voice trailed off as the last of the Ravenclaws drifted past. Hermione opened the door and watched as the seventh year Slytherins began to file past. She saw Draco and hissed to him. He looked up, confused, but smiled when he saw her and rushed into the toilets.

"Hi," Hermione said breathlessly. He grinned and ran his hand through his hair nervously.

"Let's wait until they've all gone and say we wanted to get our cloaks or something," he replied. Hermione nodded as he looked around, taking in his surroundings. "Where are we?"

"The _girls'_ loos," Hermione answered with a smile as his expression changed to one of mingled fury and shock. "Don't worry, no one can come in and see you in here. _Colloportus_," she pointed her wand towards the door and there was a now familiar squelching noise as the door sealed itself.

"Good one," Draco murmured, taking her gently into his arms. They stopped a breath's distance away from each other and looked into each other's eyes. "Hermione, I-"

"Shh," Hermione hushed against his lips and he smiled against her own.

"Want you, so, so much."

Hermione smiled as he kissed her softly, trying hard to ignore the tingling ecstasy that was coarsing through her veins as she returned the compliment in her mind. 

They waited until the sound of outside footsteps had died away completely and Hermione unsealed the door. Checking no one was coming from either way, they hurried out into the corridor and split up. Hermione ran on as fast as she could. Her feet hit the soft dewey grass and the cool air hit her like a sack of bricks. Her breath appeared in a little cloud of mist before her as she pounded on, not stopping until she was almost at the Forest. She turned and looked back to the castle, seeing Draco waiting until she had disappeared in the doorway. She smiled even though he couldn't see her and continued around the edge. A huge crowd of people showed her she had gone the right way and she pushed through, trying to spot Ron and Harry.

"Sorry, I had to go back to get my cloak," a voice drawled from behind her and she knew Draco had joined his friends somewhere at the back.

"Teachers, students, welcome!" a loud voice cried from all around the pupils. Hermione, still pushing to get the the side, looked around. Dumbledore was standing just in front of the fence, with his arms spread wide. "Thankyou all for coming to this display. The fireworks will be started very soon, so I suggest you all make yourselves comfortable. If you would, er, take several scores of steps backwards."

As one, the huge crowd of pupils moved backwards and Hermione found herself on the edge, watching them all go past. She moved backwards, staying to the side of the pulsing group. Dumbledore waved his hand towards the large space in front of the face and hundreds of squashy armchairs appeared, all different shapes and sizes.

"You may now procede to your labelled seats," Dumbledore said. There was a twinkle in his eye as the students muttered against themselves. How would they tell which were their specific seats? It would take hours to find them all. "They have a Homing Charm placed on them which will draw you to them," he explained, the Sonorus Charm on his voice making it echo eerily around them all. Then, just as he said that, it was as if it had activated some magnet deep within all of them: the pupils found themselves being pulled forwards to their chairs. It was a strange sensation and Hermione soon found herself being seated clumsily next to Ron with Harry on his other side.

"That's very advanced magic, the Homing Charm," Ron said and Hermione felt her mouth fall open.

"How did you know that?" she asked, amazed at his knowledge of one of the toughest spells that was possible to wizardkind.

"I didn't, just what you normally say," he replied, grinning. He yelped as she hit him over the head playfully.

"Well, it really is," she said. Harry and Ron groaned and rolled their eyes. "No, really. I'm surprised that it worked, normally people place it on one or two simple objects. Placing it on hundreds of students must be incredibly difficult. Humans have free will and there's no telling whether there's some ill pupils being dragged out of bed now by an invisible force."

Even Harry and Ron looked impressed at this piece of information.

"Dumbledore never ceases to amaze," a voice drawled from next to her. Hermione looked round for the source and felt her stomach do several flips in succession as she saw Draco sitting next to her. "Surprise, Granger."

"Oh, shove off, Malfoy," she hissed but saved a tiny smile for him when Ron and Harry grinned at each other. They loved any excuse to get at Malfoy, even though he wasn't going out of his way to be nasty towards them. He smiled back slightly but looked forwards when Crabbe peered at him curiously. Crabbe obviously mistook the half-grin for a sneer and, seemingly satisfied, sat back in his armchair that represented a large sofa due to his bulky form. He released a loud sigh, followed by a disgusting burp. Draco grimaced and put his head in his hands. Hermione fought back giggles and looked up in the sky, where Dumbledore had levitated the small podium he was standing on.

"I see everyone is in their place safely and soundly. Now, to the fireworks!"

There was a loud round of applause as the podium sunk back to the ground and Dumbledore's pointed hat gave off a series of small silver sparks. He nodded to Flitwick who was standing next to a huge fenced off area, full to the brim with boxes and lines of pre-set fireworks. There was a deafening _bang_ and a single, huge firework rose upwards, exploding over and over again. It had obviously been modified because when it reached neck-cricking height, it gave one last booming explosion before sparking into the Hogwarts school crest. Then, the house creatures floated off and dissolved into a shiny rainstorm of bright gold and red sparks.

Hermione felt her face being illuminated by the great showers of beautiful colours that burst from all around the pupils and teachers. The crowd made satisfied murmurs and a deep rumbling of voices filled Hermione's ears as well as the _bang_s _crackle_s and smouldering remains of fireworks that now littered the ground.

Draco leant slightly closer to her and muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"I love you."

Hermione turned to look at him so fast that the muscles in her neck twinged painfully. He was staring determinedly upwards as the violent blues, golds, greens and reds reflected on his pale skin. Hermione could tell he wasn't really seeing anything that he was looking at, his expression seemed a bit too fixed to possibly be real. Slowly and carefully, she reached over and squeezed his hand, not taking her eyes from his face. The corner of his mouth twitched into a small but unmistakeable smile as she whispered, "I love you too, Draco." 

**-Chapter Eleven-**

_The Magnum Opus_

After the celebrations, everyone slept soundly. From the teachers to the ghosts, no one made a sound. The only person who was awake, however, was a dark-haired woman. She was bent low over the desk at which she sat and anyone watching her would have heard her muttering under her breath. Question her actions and she would waft you away like a trail of smoke on the wintry cold air. The room in which she worked was so cold that her breath formed a misty glaze over her eyes. She pulled out her wand and conjured a fire that flickered neatly in the draw she had pointed her wand at. It was green with a light yellow tinge around the dancing edges: Charmed Fire some might call it. To an uninformed onlooker, she was doing her tax returns a little late. To the experienced eye, she was writing the ingredients for the latest potion she had created.

"And a little bit of ... Churse Bile ..." her voice trailed off as footsteps approached. She looked up, her dark eyes flickering like the flames that lightened her gaunt face.

"Having fun?" It was Draco Malfoy. She gave him a patronising look and turned back to the numerous sheets of paper in front of her. He coughed. She ignored him and scribbled something out, replacing it with 'strand of Bowtruckle nail' and sucked on the end of her quill thoughtfully. The blonde boy watched her and rolled his eyes, emitting a louder cough.

"What?" she asked, turning round, her long dark hair swinging like a curtain in front of her face. She brushed it out of her eyes irritably.

"Nothing, just wondering if I could help. God, Julie, you're always so pre-fucking-menstrual."

"Don't take that tone with me. I'm busy. It's a breakthrough for magical medicine. Maybe - maybe you should just skip off back to bed, like a good little boy," she said.

"Why are you so patronising, Juliette Gardé?" Draco asked. He eyed her suspiciously. _Magical medicine. Whatever, it's obvious she's working for Dumbledore and the rest of those Mudblood-lov-_ he stopped himself mid thought. _I ... I didn't just think that. But, whose side am I on? I love Hermione and all but that doesn't make me married to Dumbledore and her stupid friends._ Draco, not wanting a fight from someone much older and more powerful than himself, turned and headed back upstairs to his dormitory, his mind full of questioning, probing thoughts. It ached, a dull hurt, to think about what side he should be on. Juliette Gardé continued working, hunched over the fire that provided the only warmth in the dungeon common room. She didn't give him a second look or thought as she added more uneffective ingredients to make the potion all the more harder without changing it at all. Draco opened his bedroom door, wondering what side he would be on. Who's side he should be on. He was all for the Dark Lord's return to power, but some nagging suspension above his stomach told him he was completely wrong. He felt a guilty pang as he thought that the suspension was Hermione. She held him back from the edge yet kept driving him towards it. Draco didn't sleep til the sun had risen over the dewey grass, the confusing thoughts and grunting snores of his minions keeping his mind unsettled.

Down in the common room, Juliette Gardé stretched and yawned. Being a Potion-Making Spirit was hard enough _with_ sleep. Without, she always found herself almost collapsing. The Ancient Spirits were all acquainted and her second cousin was the Bringer of Fire. There were three Potion-Making Spirits in her family, herself and her two brothers. They were equally skilled, using their gifts to help Healers and teachers all over the wizarding world. Now, her uncle, Snape, had brought her to Hogwarts. She was still suffering over the first task she had been set: to create a potion that would not only baffle the students, but it would give a Metamorphagus-like effect to the taker. At high concentration, the drinker would possess the powers of the Metamorphagi for up to a day. _Snape probably just wants it so he can get some action, dirty bastard,_ Juliette Gardé thought cynically.

"Evanesco," she commanded softly and all the parchment disappeared. How she would get it back didn't matter to her as she slumped forward on the hard wooden desk. She felt like her eyelids had been dowsed in drowsiness, her eyes daubed with a sleep-covered paintbrush. But, just before she gave in to the fatigue, a sneer spread across her face. She had big plans for the potion. Very big plans, indeed. 

The next morning at dawn, Hermione seemed to be the only person who was awake. The frosty sunlight glimmered on the dust that circled the room and small parts of the room were thrown into eerie shadow. She stretched and got out of her bed, crossing to the window. For a moment, all she could see was white. Then she realised that pearly clouds were flitting across the sky and every surface before her eyes was covered in crisp, white snow. She smiled benignly and looked onto the grounds. Someone with a dark cloak was working on the floor. For a moment, Hermione watched them until she realised who it was. She smiled and returned to her bed, picking up her clothes that she was wearing home. She got changed quickly and went back to the window. The person in black was dragging something across the ground. Hermione recognised the charm being used as a Definition Spell. Where it was cast, the surface onto which it was projected would glow a different colour. It never lasted very long and Hermione watched interestedly as Draco hurried back and forth, blasting snow into blue shimmer and standing back to admire his work. She yawned and rubbed her eyes sleepily and decided to finish packing her garments when a loud shout drew her back to the window. The frost that settled on the window slightly obstructed her vision, so she pushed it open. It creaked loudly and a small spider scuttled away as its dewey web was torn into shreds.

Looking down, Hermione saw Draco standing and looking up at her. Behind him, in huge letters in the snow were the words _I'll miss you_. Hermione felt a lump form at the back of her throat, she was speechless. She opened her mouth to speak but a choke formed instead, so she grabbed her wand and a piece of parchment with a quill and hurried back to the window. She scribbled on the parchment, "I'll miss you. How long have you been up? X," and, using a Levitation Charm, she sent the note down to him. His eyes flickered over it and he looked back up.

"An hour," he called. Then, with nothing further said, he turned and headed back to the castle. Even as he went, his carefully prepared work began to fade, the snow returning to its original colour. Hermione smiled to herself and closed the window. It banged shut and a rustle from Lavender's bed told her she was not the only one awake. She turned round to see Lavender climbing back _into_ bed. She frowned.

"Lavender," she whispered. The girl looked up as if she had been caught in the act of doing something she shouldn't have.

"I hoped you wouldn't notice me," she said guiltily. Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Where have you been?"

"Nowhere," Lavender replied shortly. Hermione smiled knowingly and sat on the end of her bed which coincidently happened to face Lavender's. "Fine, I'll tell you. But you can't tell-" she paused, as Parvati had rolled over in her bed, mumbling to herself. Instead of saying the other girl's name, Lavender just nodded to Parvati's bed. Hermione nodded and cast a quick Silencing Charm over Lavender's bed. She climbed onto the end and sat, neatly cross-legged, waiting patiently. Lavender took a deep breath. "IwasinRon'."

"What?" Hermione asked. "I didn't get any of that, you might want to leave spaces between your words." Lavender sighed and inhaled deeply again as if she was preparing herself.

"I spent the night with Ron. I was in his dormitory and thought I'd better come back before anyone woke up."

Hermione completely lost her composure and screamed. "You what?"

"Shut up," Lavender said nervously, glancing at Parvati's bed.

"She won't hear us. Go on, put your head outside the curtains and I'll scream. You won't hear a thing," Hermione said irritably. Lavender complied and Hermione screamed loudly and shrilly. Lavender was unsure of when Hermione had stopped screaming, which she hadn't, and put her head back inside the four-poster.

"Ok, ok! You can stop screaming!" she shouted. Hermione stopped and grinned.

"So ... what did you do?" she asked. Suddenly she felt very light-headed and giggly. It seemed that Lavender did too because she giggled nervously.

"Oh we didn't do anything," she said exasperatedly. Hermione looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Oh, ok, fine. We kissed. Only a little bit though. And we talked for ages. He's so sweet." She sighed and Hermione smiled.

"I knew you two liked each other. I knew it!" she exclaimed. Lavender smiled and they both erupted into giggles. 

However many times Hermione kissed Draco goodbye in the second-floor bathroom, she couldn't count. As she, Ron, Harry and Ginny climbed into a carriage that was taking them to the train station, she collapsed into the seat giddily and smiled widely. Ginny watched her suspiciously whilst Ron jabbered away to Harry about Lavender.

"... I mean, I thought she kind of liked me, but I wasn't sure, you know?" his voice trailed away as Hermione leaned forward to watch the castle as the Thestral pulled the carriage away. A small group of pupils had gathered at the front of the castle to big farewell to all the pupils who were returning home. She searched frantically for Draco but relaxed when she remembered he was also leaving the school for the Christmas holidays. The ride to the station was silent, except for punctuations from Ron and Harry about Quidditch and chess. Ginny watched the castle disappear sadly, Hermione remembered that her new-found love, Chris Flemming, was staying for the holiday.

When they finally arrived in Hogsmeade, Hermione quickly found them a compartment. They dragged in their trunks and sat down, breathing heavily. No sooner than the train had departed, their compartment door slid open.

"Well, well, well." Hermione didn't look up, she recognised the cold voice from a mile off.

"Hi, Tom," Ginny said nervously. When she had grown bored of him and finished their relationship, he had become bitter and went out of his way to irritate them. Hermione stared fixedly at the floor and had the distinct feeling that she was not alone in doing so. "What do you want?" Ginny asked. There was a pregnant pause. Hermione looked up to see Tom Fabrusi chewing his lip thoughtfully.

"Nothing," he said icily and stalked away. Ron stood up and slammed the door shut angrily, where the glass in the door shattered.

"Temper, temper, Weasley," Draco drawled from behind the shattered frame. He went to open the door and come in to taunt him even further, but Hermione shot him a warning look. He, also, slouched away. Ron's knuckles were turning white because he was clenching his hands so hard. Hermione repared the door and suggested that Harry and Ron had a game of chess. Ron growled in annoyance that she could think of something like chess but Harry, following Hermione's lead, persuaded him to play.

When they were well into the game, Hermione turned to Ginny who had been silent ever since Tom had disappeared. She asked her, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Oh, I ... I don't know," she replied, her voice shaking ever so slightly. Hermione frowned and contented herself with watching Harry's bishop knock out a pawn from Ron's side. Ron snarled furiously and moved his king forwards, out of check. 

"Hello, dears!" Mrs Weasley cried excitedly as they hurried through the front door of Number 12, Grimmauld Place. For a moment they all wondered why she was speaking so loudly in the hall but one glance at the empty space where Mrs Black's portrait had previously hung answered the unvoiced question on all of their minds. Lupin, Tonks and Moody edged in behind them and closed the door quickly. Tonks screwed up her face and reappeared as the heart-shaped girl with green hair. Moody took off his bowler hat and travelling cloak, placing them on the hatstand. Lupin just leaned against the wall, rubbing the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. He was obviously very tired, full moon had been two nights before and he looked as though he was still feeling after-effects of his transformation. Even with the Wolfsbane Potion, he was tired and more aggressive when the full moon was approaching. Afterwards, he would be irritable and prone to slight dizziness which was a side-effect of the potion. Hermione smiled at him sympathetically, he'd had it hard recently, losing his best friend.

Mrs Weasley dragged them all into the kitchen where, as it was a Saturday, Mr Weasley and the twins were sitting. Fred and George were writing something down and hastily put it away when Mrs Weasley came in. Harry sat next to Fred and asked what it was out of the corner of his mouth.

"Writing down a chart for testing our new creation," Fred explained. George looked up.

"We were writing our test subjects names," he hissed. "We figured that Mum'd go mad if she knew we were going to ask you to try them."

"And quite rightly, too," Hermione said indignantly. Fred and George looked at each other.

"That's a no then." Harry and Ron grinned at each other whilst Hermione shot them all very reproachful looks. 

"Cheers!" The Weasley Family (excepting Percy who had still not apologised, perhaps out of embarrassment), Harry, Hermione and a very tired Lupin all raised their glasses. Mr Weasley stood up drunkenly and raised his glass high into the air, Firewhisky slopping over his outstretched hand. He smiled at the group who were clustered around the large table in the dining room. They had moved the table out of the basement and into a drawing room, renaming it as the dining room and stretching the table to fit however many needed to eat.

"Well," he said slowly. Ginny and Hermione giggled. "Another fantastic start at Hogwarts. Superla- superlat- superlative performances in lessons. Fantabulous," he said, before sitting down and taking another large gulp from his almost empty glass. Mrs Weasley stood up and excused herself to the bathroom. After they had heard her leave, Mr Weasley grabbed the bottle of Firewhisky and poured copious amounts into everyones tumblers. Fred and George grinned ecstatically and Harry and Ron shared excited glances. Lupin looked around.

"Arthur, I really don't think they should be drinking that."

"Nonsense, they are all old enough. Except Ginny. Ginny, pass me your glass."

"No!" Ginny said angrily. "Everyone gets some but me. It's always me that's left out-" her voice was steadily rising. Hermione nodded and looked like she would rather pass her Firewhisky to Lupin, who was looking amused.

"Alright, drink up everyone, before Molly comes back," Mr Weasley said hurriedly. The toilet had flushed upstairs, it was only a matter of twenty seconds until Mrs Weasley returned. Harry, Ron, George, Fred and Ginny all tipped the Firewhisky down their throats and slammed their empty glasses on the table, cringing slightly and spluttering.

"Oh, come on, Hermione," Ginny said. "It's not that bad." She coughed loudly and began choking. Mrs Weasley's footsteps sounded on the stairs, down the first, then the second. It was now or never. Hermione glared around at the table, all of whom were watching her expectantly, and downed the contents of her glass. It burned the back of her throat, she felt like she was about to vomit fireballs across the room. Before she knew it, Mrs Weasley had reentered the room. Mr Weasley hastily put the bottle of Firewhisky down and winked at the younger members of the room. Lupin, catching his drift, raised his glass.

"To the burning cough," he said, smiling slightly. Mr Weasley clinked his glass against Lupin's and then they both took sips. Mrs Weasley smiled.

"I think I'll have some of- Arthur, why is so much gone?"

Without missing a beat, Hermione came to the rescue of all the nervous faces and said, "They were having a drinking competition." Harry and Ron looked at her in awe, Fred and George positively yelled with happiness and Ginny stared at Hermione as if she had just seen her in a completely new light. Mrs Weasley raised an eyebrow. _Oh, no,_ Hermione thought. _She doesn't believe it. We're all going to get in so, so, so much trouble. What will she do-?_

"That's very irresponsible," Mrs Weasley chided. Hermione felt her mouth drop open. "Drinking excessively is bad enough for the both of you, and in front of the children-"

"Mum, me and Fred are eighteen-" George said.

"Me, Harry and Hermione are hardly children either," Ron interrupted George. Then, after a glare from Ginny, he added, "And Ginny's going to be sixteen next year. We know not to drink, we're not that stupid," he said unconvincingly.

Mrs Weasley looked from 'innocent' face to 'innocent' face and sighed.

"Alright then. Off to bed, everyone, I need a word with Remus and Arthur," she said. They all flew out of the room. Fred and George shot up the stairs and disappeared into their room. Hermione, Ron and Ginny followed Harry into the boys bedroom. They all collapsed onto the beds, giggling loudly and excitedly. They sat, allowing the poisonous alcohol fumes vent into their brains. One by one they felt the dizziness coming over them and began to sway in their seats. Then, a loud explosion from Fred and George's room made them all jump. Ginny, who by miles was the worse for wear so far, fell off the bed and rolled around on the floor, laughing manically. Ron ran out of the room to see what Fred and George and Hermione, sighing, told Harry and a hysterical Ginny, "I'd better tell them to calm down a bit. Even though I'm actually enjoying myself, they'll get us all in- hic, trouble." The hiccup made her laugh and she left the room giggling.

A few minutes later, she returned with Ron who was laughing so hard he was doubled over and wheezing quietly. She was planning on telling Harry and Ginny what the twins had done but stopped in the doorway, her eyes widening to huge, surprised spheres of shock. Ron felt her stop in front of him and looked up to see what was happening.

Ginny was straddling Harry's lap with her arms round his neck. He had been pulled forward into a clumsy kiss and his arms were hanging limply by his sides. Ron hiccuped loudly in response to this sight. The two broke apart and Ginny fell to the floor.

"Ron! Hermione! I ... We, were, um, just..." she slurred. Her eyes were strangely unfocused. Harry was rubbing his top lip, clearly wondering what had just happened. Ron and Hermione took one look at each other and, under the effect of the Firewhisky, burst into melodious laughter. Ginny looked slightly confused but joined in. Harry shrugged and let the drowsiness take over him and slumped into a heap on the floor. Ginny gasped loudly and melodramatically. "Oh! Did I do that? Was it my fault? Harry! Harry!" she whispered, slapping the sides of his face.

"Ah, he can't hold his drink," said a knowing voice from behind Hermione and Ron. Lupin smiled down at Harry who was sitting up, looking confused and slightly scared. Then he looked back at the two sixth-years who were standing in the doorway. His expression became concerned. "Ron? What's wrong?"

But what was wrong, they never found out. Ron scampered into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Retching sounds reached their ears and they all grimaced.

"Right," Lupin said responsibly. "Bed, now." 

Hermione opened her eyes but instantly regretted it. The morning was bright and fresh. She silently wished she had closed the curtains the night before. _Oh well, I'm awake now. I might as well get up._ She wandered downstairs. In the week that they had had so far at Grimmauld Place, they had all taken the decorative aspect of the celebrations to heart and the halls were covered head to foot in tinsel and bells. The day after they had arrived, Mrs Weasley had woken them all up to help her with the housework. Disgruntled and hungover from the night before (although Mrs Weasley had thought they were just tired) they had complied.

Hermione remembered with a start that it was Christmas Day. She rushed back upstairs and bounded into her bedroom. Ginny was struggling out of her twisted bed covers groggily.

"Happy Christmas," she said through a yawn. Hermione smiled.

"Happy Christmas. Just be thankful the light wasn't this bright the day we were hungover."

"Oh, God. Don't remind me. Ron never stops teasing me because I-"

"Was humping Harry?" a voice asked from the doorway. Ginny groaned and threw the covers back over her head. Ron grinned. "Happy Christmas," he said to Hermione. She smiled back. "We come bearing presents," he said. He pointed to a heap of presents outside of their bedroom door. "Blimey, you're popular, Hermione. That's either a huge card or a bloody expensive painting." Hermione hurried across, picked up her and Ginny's presents and said thank you to Ron.

"Wow, what's that?" Ginny asked. Hermione paused to look at the huge flat present that she had lain carefully at the foot of her bed.

"Let's find out, shall we?"

She began pulling off the neatly-covering paper and when she had finished, she gasped.

"Oh my God," Ginny breathed. "It's amazing."

It was a huge picture. It depicted a beautiful garden, full of amazing plants and twisting creepers. In one corner of the garden, there was a single person, sitting alone. It was a young man, with pale blonde hair. He was wearing a simple black cloak and was looking past a gap in the hedge into the sunrise. He had his knees drawn up to his chest and his slender arms were drawn around them. His face was blank, yet searching. As though he was looking for something, something hiding beyong the beautifully shimmering sun that stretched the painted horizon. It had all been painted in beautiful dulcet tones and shades. Ginny and Hermione simply stared at it in awe. Hermione looked at the back, where a note was attached.

_Dear Hermione,  
>I hope you like it. I started this when I was searching for that special something that I desperately needed in my life. Now that I have found it, I have sent it to that special person so they will always remember the place I have reserved for them in my heart. You probably didn't know that I paint. This is what I like to refer to as my magnum opus. I am missing you so much and have something to ask you when we get back to school. I was planning on writing a huge letter for you, but I'm not one to succumb to romance and my father is waiting for me downstairs.<br>Love always, Draco._

Hermione felt her heart skip several beats and her mouth became dry. A strange tingling sensation was creeping it's way down her back and along her fingers. She shivered slightly, although she was not at all cold. It was the same feeling she got whenever Draco kissed her.

"What's that?" Ginny asked. Hermione shrugged her shoulders and folded the parchment, placing it in her jeans pocket.

"Bit of scrap paper." Ginny watched her suspiciously then turned back to the painting. In the bottom left corner there was a small note.

_Draconis' Magnum Opus_

"What does that mean?" Ginny asked. "Draconis' Magnum Opus?"

"Magnum Opus is what you call the single best work of art or sculpture that an artist has produced. I don't know what Draconis stands for."

"Maybe we are meant to shorten it to an abbreviation and work out the name from that?"

"So ... DMO?"

"Deathly Minging Octopus," Ginny said at once. They fell about laughing, this Christmas certainly looked like it was going to be an unforgettable one. 

**-Chapter Twelve**

_A New Way of Dreaming_

Christmas passed faster than ever that year. Ron and Harry wanted to be back at school for Quidditch, Ginny wanted to go back to avoid Ron's jeering comments and Hermione was beginning to miss Draco. Harry also hated being in the house that reminded him of his godfather. Everytime he tried to take a minute to himself he would be interrupted by Ron, Hermione, Ginny or Mrs Weasley asking him what was wrong. Lupin seemed to be very quiet and Harry spent a lot of time with him, talking about neutral things that wouldn't bring back stinging memories for either of them. Mr Weasley was very busy at work, the comeback of Lord Voldemort had brought more Muggle-bating than ever, the Death Eaters seemed to be taunting the Ministry more and more everyday. Fred and George disappeared two days after Christmas and returned three days later looking very pleased with themselves. Everyone knew enough about them not to question their absence.

The day they returned to school approached rapidly and Hermione found herself wishing the holidays were over. She had decided to take a huge step in her relationship with Draco when she returned to school. She had lain awake, every night, for hours just thinking about it. Finally, when the last day of the holidays reached them, she woke up with a smile on her face. 

"Girls, come on!" Mrs Weasley called as they hauled their trunks out of the cars that Mr Weasley had borrowed and magically enhanced.

"I'll get those," Moody said gruffly and they hurried forwards to the barrier. Ginny and Hermione leant against it softly, talking quietly and fell through. The Hogwarts Express was there, a huge scarlet python, waiting for them. They hurried on and one glance back told Hermione that Moody was following them with their two trunks. He pushed them onto the train and Hermione swiftly grabbed hers.

"Thanks, Professor Moody," she said.

"Not so much a professor, am I?" he asked with a lopsided smile. His scars stretched across the grin, giving him a misfigured look. Hermione smiled back and took her trunk into the nearest compartment she could find. She sat down, panting slightly. The huge painting she had lain in the bottom of her trunk weighed it down somewhat and as she sniffed loudly, the door slid open.

"Hermione, give us a hand," Harry said, gasping for breath. She stood up and pulled his trunk into the small room. Ron was behind him and both were equally out of breath. Hermione smiled wearily and sat back down, her head tipping against the window.

Before they knew it, the train had given its signal and was departing from the train station.

Like anything that is being eagerly anticipated, the arrival at Hogwarts seemed to take forever before it reached them. Half-way through the train journey, Hermione disappeared to tell off some third-years who were setting off Weasley's Wildfire Whizbangs in the corridor. She returned twenty minutes later looking very ruffled and had a black smudge on her cheek. Ron amusedly asked her what had happened and she replied as indifferently as she could manage that they had Anti-Vanishing Charms on them. She was breathing heavily and sat down, rubbing her charred cheek absentmindedly.

Finally, they reached Hogsmeade station and hurried to the carriages that would take them up to the castle. It was almost dark as it always was mid-afternoon in the winter months and when they reached the doors, they were fast shut.

"Hello?" Hermione called, hammering her fist against the door. As if sensing this plea for the warmth of the Entrance Hall, the doors swung open slowly, creaking loudly. They all sighed with relief and poured into the hall. As they had eaten on the train, no one rushed to the Great Hall for food and instead traipsed away to their dormitories, lugging their trunks and occasionally cages along with them. 

The next morning, Hermione found herself awaking to the sound of shouting. She looked up bemusedly, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. Parvati and Lavender were standing by the door, bellowing down into the common room.

"Don't you dare let him-"

"He's not allowed-"

"What-?" Hermione screamed above them, "-is going on?" They both jumped and turned to look at her.

"Malfoy's trying to get in the common room. That stupid idiot, Millie Bryant, in second year, almost let him come in. Ron and Harry are down there now trying to keep him away. Good hexing-"

But what Lavender was saying flew in one of Hermione's ears and out of the other as she rushed down the stairs.

"Harry!" she called to the common room which was deserted except for a crying second year who she recognised as Millie. "Ron?"

A sniff. "Through there," Millie said, pointing at the portrait entrance. Hermione fled through it; there was laughter and shouting at the same time and blasts of light. A thud. Harry was lying flat on his back on the floor, immobilized. Hermione gasped but her pulse slowed when she saw his chest rising and falling periodically. Ron was shouting abuse at Draco who was holding two wands, presumably one of them belonging to Ron.

"You dare, you bloody dare, trying to get into our common room-?"

"Ron-"

"You think you can get inside the Gryffindor house's common room-?

"Ron-"

"You're scum, Malfoy. Bloody scum. And you can keep away from here!" Ron yelled.

"Ron!"

He spun round, his nostrils flaring. Hermione backed away slightly.

"Calm down, Weasley. Here, have your wand back. Didn't want it anyway," Draco said silkily, throwing Ron's wand at him and slinking away. Ron hurled a string of insults after him but seemingly to no avail.

"Ron-" Hermione put out her hand and touched his arm gently. He shrugged violently and stormed back into the common room. At the entrance, he stopped and turned to Harry.

"_Enervate_."

Harry sat up, blinking. He got up slowly and, without looking at Hermione, followed Ron into the common room, straightening his glasses on the bridge of his nose. It seemed that all traces of the civilised agreement they had reached at the beginning of the previous term were gone. 

Hermione sighed again, as loudly as she possibly could. No one looked up from their breakfast. Ron and Harry sifted through their soggy cereals glumly; Harry still wasn't properly recovered from the Stunner that Malfoy had shot at him and Ron's hands were shaking. He finally dropped his spoon with a clatter, causing Hermione and Harry to look up.

"He's so dead," he said grimly, his jaw set. Hermione frowned and put her mind back to her book that was on her lap. Ron and Harry discussed their upcoming Quidditch match versus Ravenclaw and Seamus joined in: soon they were having a heated argument about their tactics.

"No, I told you, Ravenclaw have the exact plan mapped out. If we do that, they'll score straight away-"

"Ron, they won't score, you're a good Keeper-"

"Ravenclaw's famous for it's Keepers, we need to get Ginny, Tom and Louise onto those diving techniques I showed you last term-"

"Yeah, all good saying that but Ginny can't dive-"

"I can-!"

"No, Ginny, we know you can. But you can't do it amazingly like Angelina could last year-"

"Well, I'll practise then-!"

"Would you stop shouting?" Hermione asked loudly and calmly. They stopped abruptly and looked at her.

"Sorry," Ron said quietly and they resumed silence. Hermione rolled her eyes and got up, walking away from the table. They began talking again and she didn't doubt for a second that it was about her.

"Hey," Draco whispered as she reached the corridor. She swung round and he was standing behind her, smiling slightly. "I missed you."

"I missed you too. I meant to- to write to say thank you for the painting. It's beautiful."

"Thanks. Listen, can you meet me tonight?"

"Erm, alright ..." Hermione looked at him questioningly.

Draco looked away. "Ok, meet me at the foot of the Astronomy tower at eight." Then, without another word, he slunk away into the shadows. Hermione watched him go. 

That night, Hermione had great difficulty in getting out of the common room. Harry and Ron were pestering her to stay and help with their homework for Transfiguration and couldn't see why she had to go out to the library.

"Hermione, it's hardly noisy in here. Stay and help up please," Ron pleaded.

"No, I have to go to the library, I need a book from there," Hermione lied. Harry frowned.

"Well, we'll come with you then," he suggested. Hermione looked panic-stricken but managed to disguise it as sobriety.

"No, no it's alright. I'll go on my own, that way I'll work quicker and I can come back to help you sooner," she said. Ron and Harry just shrugged and continued with their work as she left.

She had almost forgotten how eerie the corridors of the school were at night, especially when it was cold and any breath she emitted was clouding before her eyes. An odd cackling noise alerted her attention and she hid in the shadows of a suit of armour that watched her curiously. The laughing grew louder and then dissolved into silence as Peeves passed her and disappeared around the next corridor. Hermione looked at her wrist thoughtfully, wondering what the time was. As soon as the poltergeist had gone, she struggled out from her hiding place and hurried towards the Astronomy tower. Twice more she had to stop, Mrs Norris came around a corner and watched her suspiciously.

"I'm a prefect, I'm allowed to be here," Hermione told the cat irritably. Mrs Norris simply stared at her with her large eyes and hissed as Hermione brushed past. Then, the staircase to her right creaked and Hermione fled into the nearest room.

"Hermione, what are you doing here?" She spun round.

"Draco! Why are you in- what are you doing?" she changed question mid-sentence, for Draco was standing in front of a box and trying and failing to hide its contents.

"Erm. It's a box of Firewhisky," he replied guiltily.

"I can see that," Hermione said, a smile playing around the corners of her lips. Draco grinned lopsidedly, his disshevelled hair flopping in his eyes. "Why do you have a box of Firewhisky?"

"For the Slytherins. We're having a celebratory party when we beat Hufflepuff at Quidditch tomorrow." Another grin.

"You haven't won yet," Hermione said, frowning.

"Well, we definitely will."

"Don't be so arrogant." Her tone was irritated now. Draco gazed at her mock-sadly.

"I'm sorry. Anyway, don't I get a hug?"

She smiled again and moved forwards. He scooped her up in one swift movement and his arms wrapped around her waist. He leant back slightly and looked at her sincerely. "I really missed you, you know."

"I missed you," Hermione replied, brushing a soft kiss against his lips. "Listen, Draco, I've been thinking about something-"

"Did it hurt?"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, well, anyway. I've, um, decided I want to do something."

"Do what?"

"Something ... I- um, oh, it's difficult to say," she said. Draco frowned.

"What are you on about?"

"Well, would you rather I show you?"

"Ok," Draco replied slowly. Hermione wasn't making any sense to him, she seemed to be blushing but in the dim light he couldn't tell. 

"Ron," Harry mumbled sleepily.

"Wassat?"

"Just going to ask if you've finished your Potions yet?"

"Nah. Too tired. Listen, Im going to bed, I'm absolutely knackered."

"'Kay. Be up in a minute," Harry replied, yawning widely. 

"Oh," Hermione muttered quietly. Draco stopped and looked at her.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just ... Uncomfortable," she replied. In response, Draco kissed her softly and they lay together in the bed she had conjured, listening to each others' breathing.

"Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"Are you sure about this?"

"I ... Oh, whatever. Yes, I am." In the dark, she saw him smile slightly before he gently started again. Her breath caught in her throat and she let out a low sigh as he entered her again, slowly, softly, discreetly. Their bodies pressed together, the cold in the room did not affect them. 

The next morning, Hermione awoke feeling alive and fresh. She lifted her head to look around, the room in which she was lying was not her dorm. A stirring movement next to her brought her back to remembering where she was. She stretched slightly and rolled onto her side. Draco opened his eyes bemusedly.

"Morning," he said hoarsely. She smiled and kissed him gently.

"Morning."

"Hermione," Draco said, sitting upright. "Last night-"

"Shh," Hermione hushed him, pressing a pearly-coloured, delicate finger to his lips. He grinned.

"Wow."

"What is?"

"Last night," he said. "And this morning," he added, pointing to the small window that was letting in the light. Hermione followed his gesture and gasped. The sky was a beautiful baby blue with tiny white clouds flitting across it. The treetops that were visible were a lush green and there was a lark sweeping back and forth across the sky. They both lay, entranced by the scene that they could see.

_Knock, knock._

"What was that?" Hermione whispered. Draco frowned.

"I ... I don't know," he said. They listened. Nothing but silence.

_Knock, knock._

"Is anyone in there?" a voice croaked from behind the door. 

**Chapter Thirteen**

_Trouble Ahead_

Hermione and Draco ran as fast as they could. Hopefully, Filch was still wrestling his way out of the sheets they had thrown on him from behind the door. At least, Hermione prayed it was Filch, the only member of staff who could not use magic to find out who they were as they fled down the corridors. They stopped by the staircase that lead up to the Great Hall and Draco leant forward, holding his knees and breathing hard. He wheezed, "We are so lucky."

"Mmm," Hermione said absentmindedly. She had only just now realised that she would have to explain her absence over the night to Lavender and Parvati. Ron and Harry probably wouldn't have noticed but since Hermione shared a dormitory with two of the biggest gossips in the school, they would definitely know.

"Well, I'd better go," Draco whispered as footsteps approached. He kissed her swiftly, once on each cheek and then disappeared into the shadows of the path that led down to the Slytherin hideout. Hermione watched him go and then turned to the stairs. She went up them slowly and silently, contemplating what to tell Harry, Ron, Parvati, Lavender and anyone else who had noticed her absence. She made a mental note to apologise to Crookshanks; every day he would while away the hours by stalking across the grounds, seeking out mice and chasing birds the best he could. Then, when evening fell, he would jump up a series of steps that Hermione had charmed onto the walls and wait patiently outside her window for her to let him in. She shivered with guilt as she realised how cold it had been the night before and promised herself never to stay away from Gryffindor tower again.

"Hermione!" Ron yelled, jumping up as he saw her. She smiled wearily. _What the hell am I going to say?_ she thought nervously. When she reached him, she hugged him and collapsed into a seat opposite Harry. He smiled.

"Fell asleep in the library?" he asked, an amused smirk playing across his already grinning lips. A huge, consuming wave of relief swept over Hermione; she was so thankful for the excuse that she almost leapt across the table to hug him and nearly cried.

"Yeah," she replied, forcing an embarrassed grin onto her face. To her ultimate surprise, no one questioned her whereabouts any more and nothing more was said on the matter. There was just a dull tinkling of cutlery against china and Ron's loud chewing could be heard over the scattered conversation. Hermione concentrated on her plate and blinked slowly, little black dots were making their way into her line of vision. _Oh God,_ she thought, her stomach feeling hollow. _I lost my virginity. I feel like such a different person. It's not illegal, I am sixteen. But, oh God! What should I tell Ron and Harry? Like they'd ever ask. But still..._ Her thoughts trailed off and she stumbled into a blank stupor, playing her spoon through her steadily-soggying cereals.

"You alright?" a voice whispered next to her. She looked up, surprised to see the hall was full. _Of course it is, it's breakfast time._ She rubbed her eyes irritably, they were tingling and black and red spots were dancing over Ron's face as he peered at her concernedly. "Hermione?"

"What- sorry, Ron. I just ... My head really hurts." Draco and she had not drunk anything the night before. Had they? She knew what being hungover was like but this didn't feel too much like that, except her head was spinning slightly. Her mind felt unnervingly empty, as though an outside force was prowling her thoughts and blanking out things that should have been natural to remember. Ron frowned in front of her but she couldn't really see him. A mass of red dots were stationary in front of her now. _No, wait, that's just Ron's freckles._ Somewhere beside her she heard a laugh and someone was saying something about the Slytherins - that was Harry. Ron asked her something but all that she knew was happening was the blackness that consumed her as she slipped silently from her seat onto the cold floor below her. 

Chaos erupted around the Gryffindor table.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed as her figure slumped onto the floor. He swivelled out of his seat faster than he though possible and knelt next to her, Harry and Parvati dropped their glasses that they had been having pumpkin juice drinking challenges from and the bench on which Lavender was sitting tipped precariously as she, Dean, Neville, Seamus, Ginny and two of Ginny's friends jumped up to see what had happened. Up at the staff table, three people started up, their seats rocking behind them: McGonagall, Dumbledore and Juliette Gardé. While Dumbledore and McGonagall rushed around the end of the staff table and towards Hermione who was still out cold, her cheeks losing colour, Juliette Gardé simply walked out of the hall serenely. Her departure was only seen by one person but he was too busy staring at the lifeless Gryffindor to take much notice of the woman in black slinking away. Crabbe turned back to the Slytherin table and grinned at Goyle.

"Stupid Mudblood," Goyle grunted as Dumbledore bent over her. He didn't really care what happened to her but he was interested to see everyone fawning over her all the same. 

"Luke, are you there?"

"Enter."

"Hello, sir. Just letting you know that it worked."

"Good," the curt voice replied. "I wasn't sure whether it would, not from this distance away."

"As far as I'm aware, a visit to the hospital wing is being initiated right this moment."

"Excellent. Now, that potion of yours: is it done?"

"Yes, sir. I will send it to you when I have prepared the second batch. It should reach you by the end of this week at the latest."

"Good."

"Sir? I would love to stay and chat-" a hint of irony was on the female voice, "-but someone may notice my absence if I stay too long. I will Apparate back later from the Hogsmeade village."

"Do as you please, Julie, I have no request for your company." A wave of his hand, a _crack_ and she was gone. 

"Hermione?"

The voice was distant and unclear. As she heard it, a scream formed in her throat as her lungs searched for air. Something was covering her mouth, forcing some strange substance into her. It tasted of pepper and honey, it was a silky fluid that burnt the edges of her mouth. The scream burst out of her and she lay there, screaming and screaming until she had to stop to take in more breath. For some reason, she could not open her eyes: they felt as though they had been weighed down. And her throat, it was on fire. She couldn't tell whether it was from the solution that still tingled over her tongue. Maybe she was just hallucinating.

"Mr Weasley, she cannot hear you."

"Yes - I - can-" Hermione yelled at the top of her voice. Professor McGonagall didn't seem to understand that she was awake, she was there with them.

"Miss Granger!" The tone was no longer chiding, but surprised. And that, the surprise and shock of Hermione being there, forced her eyelids open. She screamed again as the light flooded into her eyes but now she could not shut them and was forced to abide the pain as it racked her body. Tears poured down her cheeks. Then, suddenly, the pain was gone. She blinked, able to move the veils for her eyes, and looked around in a daze. Ron and Harry were frozen in their chairs, staring at her in horror. Professor McGonagall had clapped a hand to her mouth.

"What?" Hermione mouthed. Ron gasped and Harry flew backwards in his chair. "What?" No sound was forming on her lips. Hermione put her hand to her cheek and shuddered at what she touched. The skin was scaly and dry. It felt almost as if it was peeling away. Her lips were just as dehydrated and she flicked her tongue out over them. Harry cringed, Ron gasped again and McGonagall let out a little cry of astonishment. Reaching around on the bedside table, Hermione found a mirror and held it up.

Her face was deathly white and she had been right, it was fading away on her cheeks and neck, where all there was were patches of grey that reminded her horribly of dirty rags. She flicked her gaze upwards and looked into her own eyes. She screamed again, loudly and clearly. Her throat felt like it was shattering, she was screaming so hard. Her irises had completely disappeared, as had her pupils. All she had was misty, milky coloured orbs. How she could see without her pupils, she had no idea. She just kept screaming. Louder and louder ...

And then she woke up. Her hands scrabbled at her face that was normal and she searched, dumbstruck, for some form of mirror. All she could see were Harry and Ron who were both shaking and were almost as pale as she had been in her dream. Tears stung the back of her eyes: eyes that, as far as she could tell, were back to normal. As one, Harry and Ron surged forwards and she fell against them, sobbing as they wrapped their comforting arms around her. How long they clung to her, she didn't know. All she could think was how horrifying her reflection had been and that she never wanted to go to sleep again. 

"Hey, Gin, you alright?" Hermione asked hoarsely, smiling wearily as her red-haired friend bounded forwards.

"You're ok! You had us so worried," Ginny said, ignoring Hermione's inquiry as to her own health. She sat on the chair next to the white bed and stretched like a cat. "Do they know what happened yet?" she asked, nodding at the people gathered around the desk in Madam Pomfrey's office. They were Healers from St. Mungos and had all been called in to help solve Hermione's problem. Everytime she went to sleep she was tortured with her own reflection that on every occasion was different. She woke up screaming, finding her arms and legs strapped to the bed. It was wearing off, it was the end of the week and she only woke up crying. That, to her, was far worse. She couldn't explain why. She hadn't seen Draco since the night they had been together. Only once had she questioned whether this strange fever was something to do with what had happened but she dismissed it almost as quickly. It was ridiculous.

"They think- well, know it's some kind of outside force or charm. But they don't know how it got there or who's controlling it."

"Couldn't be Lord-"

"No," Hermione replied, waving her hand. "Well, people keep asking me if I think I'm being posessed and I would know if I was. Wouldn't I?"

"Yeah," Ginny said absently. "Listen, Hermione-" her tone was brisk, "-you haven't done anything that could ... you know, induce this, have you? Anything you wouldn't normally do?"

"Er, well." Hermione found her heart racing in her chest. Could she tell Ginny? How would she explain it? Would Ginny tell Ron?

"Have you?"

"I ... Oh, God this is going to be difficult to explain," Hermione said quickly, the words tumbling out of her mouth and making her mind up for her. She cursed under her breath as Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"Go on then."

So Hermione did. Everything she had hidden, every doubt and fear, every hope and happiness, came rushing out of her. She first explained how Grawp was still in the Forbidden Forest and her tutoring of Draco in Charms. Then she went on to say about after the Quidditch match and how things had gone from there. Ginny watched her in amazement. Her eyes narrowed when Hermione told her about the fireworks display before Christmas and opened her mouth angrily to say something.

"So. You love him?" It came out as a hiss, snake-ish and low. It was quite frightening to Hermione yet she took a deep breath and carried on. Ginny's expression softened almost straight away. Hermione kept speaking on, staring at a point some two feet left of Ginny, knowing she would falter if she looked straight at her.

"And ... then ... we ..." She trailed off and found herself watching Ginny. A look of realisation dawned on Ginny's face and her eyes grew slightly wider.

"You didn't?"

"Yes, I did. Wait, we're talking about the same thing, right?"

"What, that you had sex?" Ginny asked loudly.

"Shh!" Hermione hissed. Ginny smiled knowingly and nodded.

"Ginny! How ... you ... oh, you haven't-"

"Well-"

"Ginny! You're fifteen!"

"Yeah and I have the perfect person. Chris really loves me. And I really love him."

Hermione felt her jaw drop. Ron would throw things into the fireplace. No, he would throw things at people's heads. No, he would pick the people up and throw them around. He would pick people up and throw them into the fireplace, least to say Chris Flemming would be the first to burn. Should Ron find out.

"So ... I'm not alone, as it were?"

"No." Ginny giggled. "Don't worry, it's perfectly normal. So, have you told any of the teachers about this yet?"

Hermione shook her head, biting her lip. "I don't know, Gin. It just seems like there's no connection ..." she trailed off awkwardly.

"There could be. Did it never occur to you that this could all be a trick?"

Something stirred in Hermione's mind. A trick? She couldn't be right could she? There was something she had thought was suspicious ... If only she could remember.

"A letter ..." she mumbled. Ginny looked at her.

"About?"

"It said he wanted to meet me in the Astronomy Tower. But, it didn't look like his writing."

"Do you still have the letter?" Ginny asked. Hermione nodded slowly and tried to think where it would have been the last time she had looked at it. "Well, then. You can show it to me. I'll go investigating. Most likely thing is Crabbe or Goyle messing around."

"I really don't think Crabbe or Goyle would be able to write that neatly," Hermione mused, smiling slightly. Ginny grinned. 

"Luke?"

"Yes, what do you want?"

"The second batch has been prepared correctly. You can use it in three days time, sir."

"Excellent. Now, remind me of the properties of this wonderful draught you have created, Julie."

"It gives the drinker the abilities of the Metamorphagus state. It allows the drinker to change their appearance at will for up to twelve hours, according to how much potion has been consumed."

"Good. I expect it here by Tuesday. I want to use it on Wednesday. There will be trouble if it is late, Miss Gardé."

"I understand, sir."

There was a loud _crack_ and she disappeared, leaving only the man with the hard face and slight smile sitting in front of the fire. 

**Chapter Fourteen**

_Familiar Nuisance_

Hermione was discharged from the hospital wing two days after the exhausting weekend. A constant stream of visitors had kept her from the rest Madam Pomfrey insisted on and now that she was allowed back to lessons, she was worrying about the work she had missed. Harry, Ron and Ginny had brought her samples of her homework so she knew how much was ahead of her when she returned to the common room on Tuesday afternoon. The last lesson had not quite finished yet, so she sat herself in front of the fire with a Potions essay and was just re-reading it when she heard an odd scratching noise. On searching for the source of the sound, she found a small rat gnawing on a piece of scrap parchment. Not being afraid of the creature, she watched it in mild interest. Its tiny paws were curled around the parchment, holding it in place. She studied it for a moment and just noticed it had been in a fight before she was interrupted. The door burst open.

"Ah, you've returned," Parvati said, smiling slightly. She appeared through the portrait hole and Hermione saw she was holding hands with someone. Seamus came in slowly behind her. Hermione smiled slightly, he had a blindfold on.

"Why have you got a blindfold on, Seamus?" she asked. He moved around wildly, looking to a spot some four feet left of her.

"My birthday," he said. Hermione blinked.

"Is it?"

"Yep," Parvati replied. "We're bringing his present in a moment and he's not allowed to see it."

"Oh, well, 'scuse if I don't join in but I've got a load of work to do," Hermione said apologetically.

"No problem," Seamus said as Parvati guided him to a chair. He slipped to it and grinned at the fire. Hermione suspected he thought that was where she was sitting.

"Well, I'm going to continue my Potions," Hermione said. Parvati smiled before disappearing up to their dormitory. Seamus grinned again and tucked his hand under his chin, slumping forwards in the chair. Hermione smiled and turned back to her essay. She looked down at what she had written.

_The Strength Potion varies with the power of the taker. This adds to it's effectiveness; a taker who would normally win in a fight would have increasing strength but had they not much strength, they would become even weaker. Many wizards abstain from using the Strength Potion as it can lead to some nasty side-effects such as amnesia, confusion, vomiting, general illness or unconsciousness._

She frowned and crossed 'unwellness' out. It didn't sound right. She pondered the correct word for a moment then decided on putting 'illness'. It still didn't fit with the rest of her writing style but she left it anyway. Just as she was going on to read her second paragraph, the portrait door swung open again. It was Dean Thomas, Lavender, Ron, Harry and Neville. They were carrying between them an oddly large box. There was a big flame symbol on the front and Hermione felt slightly skeptical. They were all whispering between them and Lavender was giggling. Hermione thought to herself how untrustworthy they all looked.

"Having fun?" she asked loudly. Seamus looked up whilst the five carrying the box nearly dropped it.

"God, you scared the life outta us," Dean said, puffing heavily as they gently placed the box on the table.

"On my essay there," Hermione replied.

"Oh, sorry, Herm," Dean said. She raised an eyebrow. Herm? That was a new one. Dean lifted the box and grimaced as it began slipping from his fingers whilst Hermione quickly whipped out her essay and quill that was slightly crumpled. She frowned and twisted it in her fingers, smoothing the feather out. Harry grinned and settled himself in the chair next to her.

"What you doing?"

"Potions," Ron replied for her, leaning over her shoulder and skimming her work that she had so far done. He wrinkled his nose and sat next to Seamus who turned around wildly. His blindfold slipped and Lavender threw her hands over his eyes while Dean readjusted it. Neville stood watching them all, looking awkward.

"Well," Hermione said, getting up and gathering her things in her arms. "I'll be in the library."

There was much protest at this but nonetheless she got up and headed to the portrait entrance. Just as it closed behind her she heard a yell from Seamus that sounded like a grateful cheer. She smiled and headed away from the tower.

It didn't take her long to get to the library and she was pleased to see it was empty except from a Ravenclaw girl in the same Arithmancy class as she was and two young Hufflepuff boys who were writing something together. She nodded to the girl before heading to a separate table near the far corner. It was surprisingly gloomy for the early afternoon and she pulled out her wand to light the candles that hovered above her workstation. As the flames popped up on the floating tea lights, the Ravenclaw looked up in interest. She smiled and went back to scratching something out on her parchment with her quill.

Hermione gave an inward sigh and looked back to her Potions but found she just couldn't concentrate. She was curious to know what Seamus had been given by the other Gryffindors: it had to be something good or there wouldn't have been so much secrecy about it. She wondered how Draco was: she hadn't seen him since the night before she had gone to the hospital wing and desperately wanted to see him. She also was worried what had exactly happened to her. The Healers from St Mungo's still had not been able to pinpoint the exact solution and so she had to sit in fear that it could happen again.

She ran a hair through her once again bushy hair and grimaced. She hadn't had time to wash it since before the weekend. _That's what I'll go and do now_, she told herself. So, regretting she wasn't getting down to her homework, she picked up her things and made her way out of the library. It was completely silent, almost eerily so. She got to the Entrance Hall and found herself glancing down the corridor that led to the Slytherin dungeons. There was a scratching noise and a rat ran down the corridor. Intrigued, Hermione followed. Stepping into the dark hall felt wrong – but right at the same time. It was chilling and cold. Shivers ran over her pale skin.

"Hermione?" a voice asked from her left somewhere. She jumped backwards, slamming into the wall on her right. Wincing, she rubbed her arm which had been squashed between the rest of her body and the stone divider. She noticed there was a dark corridor leading off to where the voice had sounded and no sooner than she had seen it, Draco emerged from it. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She sighed in relief and hugged him tightly, leaning backwards to press a kiss against his cold lips. "How have you been?"

"Alright," she lied, shivering again. "You?"

Something didn't feel right. The rat she had followed before scampered past her feet and Draco smiled.

"It's a rat. I'm fine. And you're lying," he added, kissing her softly. "Here, come in," he said, taking her hand and pulling her down the shadowy hall. She pursued him without much effort, allowing herself to be showed the way. At the end of the passage there was a corner and turning round it presented nothing but a door. Draco opened it, hurried her through and pulled it shut again in less than five seconds. "If you have it open for more than six seconds an alarm goes off," he explained. She nodded, dumbstruck. Where was he taking her? A squeak behind them made her jump. "Bloody rat," Draco grunted. They carried along a long pathway for almost a minute and then they came to some stairs. They were steep and curved around in a spiral fashion. Where were they going?

At the bottom of the stairs was another door and Draco let go of her hand. Using both hands, he pulled a large lever under the staircase and the door creaked open. A warm blast of air hit them in the face and Hermione felt relieved: at least it wasn't freezing inside the room. Draco made her wait until the door was fully open before he walked in. She frowned and followed him.

"Wait!" he hissed as she was about to put her foot over the threshold. She paused in mid movement and slowly put her foot back on the outside of the room. The next thing she knew, Draco was sweeping her off her feet and had picked her up. She giggled.

"What are you doing?"

"Being your knight in shining armour," he retorted, smiling slightly before kissing her lightly on the lips. "Don't touch anything in the doorway, alright?"

She nodded and carefully he maneuvered into the room. "Stop squiggling," he complained when she shuffled and ran her hands through his hair softly. "Anyone without Slytherin blood who crosses through this doorway will be… well, they will lose certain qualities that they have."

"Like what?" Hermione asked curiously as he set her down and closed the door. He turned to her with a strange yet sad smile.

"Their eyesight." He headed away from her, towards the fire and after this reply had settled in Hermione's mind, she took the opportunity to look around.

The room was decorated in surprisingly good taste. Drapes hung from all four corners of the room and a large bed was covered in a silk grey canopy. There was a single bookshelf at the far end of the room, near the fire that was crackling green flames, on which all the books were bound in green leather. There were three armchairs by the fire, all a dark green mossy colour. The large bed's sheets were black and shiny, as if they were satin. Hermione suspected they were. The floor was stone and the only covering was a brown rug that lay between the armchairs and the fire. Because the room was so dark and mysterious, Hermione felt a sense of foreboding creeping over her.

She wandered over to the armchairs and chose the one to the right of Draco. The last armchair was slightly apart from the other two, as if someone invisible was sitting right there, watching them. Draco turned to her and smiled.

"How are you?"

"I'm good. What exactly is this place?" she asked inquisitively. He waved his hand.

"Just a Slytherin hideout. Not many people know it's here. I tend not to tell my secrets," he said with a sly grin on his face.

"Tell me."

"What?"

"Your secrets," Hermione said, looking piercingly into his wintry eyes. He grinned again.

"I only have one that I can think of right now. Besides, you already know it."

"You've never told me any secrets," she prompted.

"I love you. There you go, I've told you again," he said, staring into the fire, a slightly red flush creeping to his cheeks.

"I know." And then she kissed him like she had never kissed him before: hungry, passionate and desperate for his return in fervor. 

"They have just met."

"Excellent. And make sure she is alone when you bring her."

"Yes, I will." 

Hermione and Draco lay entwined together, fully clothed and warm under the silky soft sheets of the magnificent bed. Draco gave a great yawn, shuddering against Hermione. She smiled fondly as he looked at her and wrapped a protective arm around her.

"You're so beautiful. Like a flower," he said softly, kissing her nose. She smiled: it was unbelievable how different and soppy he became around her. It was like flicking a switch between darkness and light.

"You're my calyx, you know that?"

"I'm your what?" he asked, confusion creeping onto his face as a smile played around Hermione's lips.

"Calyxes are the outer leaves that protect the bud of a flower. There's only one of you, so calyx."

"Oh, right," he replied. He still sounded confused so she patted his head softly. He emitted a quiet growl and she giggled. She loved being with him. She loved him. And suddenly their faces were close together, lips brushing, warmth emitted in low breaths against each other's cheeks, shivers flowing over their skin as it clashed against each others. Hermione sighed softly as Draco's lips pressed against hers. _This is so perfect,_ she thought with a small smile.

They drew apart halfheartedly and Hermione leant her head against his chest that rose and fell softly as he drew breath. Soon, her eyelids began to feel painfully heavy and they drifted open less often. A light muffled snuffle above her head told her Draco was sleeping already and she brought her hand up to his face as she turned to look at him. His blonde hair wasn't sleek: small strands fell over his eyes and nose. Something flickered behind his eyelids as he silently dreamed. His mouth curved into the tiniest of smiles as she gently ran her fingertip over his pale lips. Slowly and carefully, so as not to disturb him, she leant upwards and planted a delicate kiss against his skin before she rested her head back on his chest. 

The next morning, Draco awoke with a start. Something was shuffling around by the fireplace. The fire had long since burnt out and the room was very dark. He silently wished he remembered how to charm windows into the walls whether it was an outside wall or not. A muted moan next to him made him twist around. He couldn't make out whom it was but he knew instantly. Hermione was still asleep. He smiled in the gloom and swiveled his legs round to get out of the bed. His feet padded softly on the cold stone floor and he winced: even through his socks he could feel the icy temperature. He stretched and something clicked painfully in his right leg. It was loud against the bleak silence that surrounded him.

"Shit."

Draco's eyes widened automatically. Someone or something has just cursed from the corner of the room. He stared around but gave up quickly. There was a quiet hushing noise and then a scratching sound. It was a man, but with a higher pitch of voice. Draco reached into his pocket for his wand but found it was missing. For a heart-stopping moment, he thought he didn't have it. Then, he remembered he had left it on the floor. He knelt down, shivering as the stone came into contact with him again and ran his hands lightly over the floor. It was just to the right of him and he grabbed it quickly, holding it tightly. He always felt safer with his wand. Not wanting to disturb Hermione, he whispered, "Lumos."

A thin ray of light shot out from the tip of his wand and a spot hit the wall opposite him. He muttered a charm that brought the fire back to life and crept back to the bed. Something was not right. 

When Hermione awoke, Draco was already sitting bolt upright in bed, the covers drawn up around him as he clasped his wand in his hand. She turned to him with a smile but it was not returned.

"Drac-" she began to speak but he clamped a hand over her mouth to block out the noise. She frowned irritably.

"Shh," he whispered, his voice barely audible above the crackling of the fire. "There's someone in here."

"What?" Hermione asked, disbelieving. "Who? How?"  
>"I don't know," Draco said softly. "I heard him, he swore when I got out of bed about ten minutes ago."<p>

"Him?"

"Definitely a man's voice."

"Oh." Hermione felt horribly confused. Here she was, in a secret room with the person she loved and someone, something, was watching them. She felt incredibly invaded, as if someone had force-fed her a strong Truth Potion.

For a moment, the two sixth-years sat in the bed together, not speaking. Draco sensed Hermione's trepidation and decided to make conversation.

"Do… Are you hungry?"

"Mmm," she replied, nodding fervently. He took her hand and, climbing over the covers, they went and sat in the armchairs. Draco reached over and pulled Hermione's armchair close before conjuring up a bowl of fruit and two slices of toast. He picked a grape and offered it to Hermione who took it smoothly and then pulled him close for a kiss. He smiled against her lips when something alerted his attention. The rat that had chased them down the corridor was sitting by the fireplace, watching them interestedly. Hermione giggled but when something snapped into place in her mind, she stopped abruptly.

The rat had a toe missing on one of his paws.

"What's wrong?"

She turned to Draco, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. There was a swishing noise and as one, the two twisted to see a cloaked, hooded man standing before them. Hermione gasped. Draco just looked confused. The man in front of the roaring fire lifted both his hands, one of which was covered in a shimmering silver glove that looked horribly like metal grafted to his very skin, and pushed back his hood. His hands were trembling slightly as the hood fell to reveal a round face, watery eyes and thin blonde hair.

"Don't move," he instructed, holding out his wand.

"Who the hell are you?" Draco asked angrily. His voice was low and threatening but the man just smiled, although it was a wobbly one.

"They call me Wormtail." 

**Chapter Fifteen**

_Captured_

There was a tapping noise against a chime, which sounded softly. Somewhere something cried out, a harsh and sudden noise. Someone was walking towards the child who knelt before the huge black circle, an axe swinging from one hand as they laughed wickedly: high, shrill and haunting.

Draco awoke with a start.

It was absolutely silent again. He opened his eyes widely to see nothing but darkness. He had no idea where he was. Something rustled next to him and he spun over hastily.

There was nothing there.

"Hermione?"

Nothing.

He sat up slowly, trying not to move his neck, which ached painfully. He had no idea where he was, how he got there or why his body ached as though a thousand bars of metal had been implanted in his body, joined by rusty axles. His eyes stung when he opened them so his only choice was to close them again. His lips felt sore and bruised. He gently lifted his hand and touched two fingers to his bottom lip and pain seared across it. It was split. But how, he didn't remember.

He felt groggy but didn't think anything of it: he'd been asleep for some time now although he did not know exactly how long.

Suddenly, there was a click and a string-beam of light shot across the floor and up the wall as the door creaked open. He spun around and winced as the door fully opened, bathing him in cold light from the corridor beyond. It was then that he realised exactly where he was.

"You are to get dressed in travelling clothes and come down to the drawing room," said the dark figure that was standing in the doorway. Draco squinted at the mysterious person to see who it was but to no avail. "Now." 

Hermione opened her eyes cautiously and wearily as a bright light hit them.

She was in a strange room that was surprisingly comfortable. She grimaced in cynical smile as the door closed: she wouldn't have expected Wormtail to treat her like a guest in his house.

At least, she suspected it was his house. She had no idea where she was, or how long she had been asleep for after Wormtail had taken them from the secret room under the school. She lay back down on the bed or sofa she had been placed on and wondered for a minute how Pettigrew had managed to get into the secret room. He must have known it was there and how to get in, unless he had heard Draco telling her. Yes, she decided, he must have been listening to Draco talking of the sudden blindness of any non-Slytherin who touched any edge of the threshold.

A loud whistling draft of wind swept through a crack in the window that she could make out opposite her from the light of the moon and stars. Hermione shivered and pulled the cloak around her.

Now she felt really surprised: Wormtail had put her in a comfortable room _and_ made sure she was warm.

A ludicrous thought crossed her mind and she almost laughed out for it was so ridiculous.

_Perhaps Wormtail was rescuing Draco and I?_

She managed a quite snort and found it quite hurt her throat and chest to make noise. It was the smallest chance in the world that Wormtail had snatched them from the school for good and even if he had been saving them, who or what would it be from?

Hermione pondered this for a while and found all the thought exhausting. She was aching to get up but all-of-a-sudden, she felt a huge wave of sleepiness wash from her head down to her toes and yawned widely.

Just before her eyes closed and she drifted into another bout of potion-induced slumber, the tiniest consideration flittered across her mind.

Where was Draco? 

Draco struggled into his clothes as hurriedly as he could and found his body making a huge effort to stay awake. He bent to pick up his black-leather hiking boots that he rarely used and almost tumbled over.

He had no intelligence of how much sleeping draught had been poured down his throat the moment the strange man, Wormtail, had knocked him down with a Stunner.

Thinking he had only been asleep for a few hours, Draco poked his head out of the guest-room door to see if the huge indistinguishable figure was still there, intending to ask whether he could have a few extra hours of sleep.

The hall was empty, but he spied a shadow flickering on a wall. He watched it curiously for a second, wondering what was making it darken then fade and then dim again so rapidly, before it hit him. Someone was standing in his bedroom and they had lit the fire.

Who could be in his bedroom was beyond him and he crept along the hall to have a look at who it was.

The stranger with the watery eyes and the strawberry-blond hair was standing and glaring into the fire.  
>It was only then that it became apparent to Draco that there was someone else with Wormtail.<p>

His mother was facing Wormtail from by the window and her eyebrows raised in annoyance as she noticed Draco: standing in the doorway with his hair ruffled; his coat slung roughly over his shoulders; an ebony shoe unlaced on his left foot whilst the other was bare and a look of gormless curiosity on his face.

"You are not ready, Draco," she said coldly, and Wormtail turned. He too wore a look of deep disgust that went far beyond Draco's mother's expression.

"What are you doing in here?" Draco asked defiantly, his jaw setting determinedly.

"Nothing," Pettigrew replied, taking a step forward. Draco felt himself flinch as he caught sight of the shiny silvery hand and turned back and walked to the guest room where the rest of his things were. 

The next time Hermione awoke it was bright daylight and she shielded her eyes with her hand.

It was two days after Draco had been taken down to the drawing room, of which Hermione had no idea.

Slowly, she sat up at, squinting her eyes, looked around the room she was now in, for she had evidently been moved. She was in a big, four-poster bed covered in deep maroon hangings and sheets. The walls and thick Persian rugs on the ebony-wooden floor were dark green and had she not been so scared and worrying about Draco, she would have inwardly joked that it looked like a Christmas room. Birds were singing and swooping before the great window opposite her and Hermione got up slowly.

She was no longer wearing her school uniform and her hair was silky soft. Someone must have changed her clothes, which now lay clean and neatly folded on the edge of the bed, and washed her.

She felt invaded and a horrible shiver washed from her head all the way down her body to her toes. Rubbing her arms that felt cool and delicate under the black satin pyjamas she was now wearing, she walked up to the window and looked out curiously.

The room overlooked a mass expanse of land. Green fields scattered with strange creatures rolled away from the house she was in and a spinney surrounded one small field with a little cottage in it. The birds' cries sounded strange to Hermione and as she realised they were seagulls, she saw a great turquoise stretch of water sparkling and washing back and forth. Then it hit her: this house was on the seacoast. As far as she knew, Hogwarts was nowhere near the sea, so she was very far from her friends and school. As she looked out to the left of the room, she saw exactly how big the house was. She wasn't even sure if it was as big as Hogwarts but it was certainly an eye-opener.

Her thoughts drifted back to her friends and her parents and although she could have been a matter of minutes from her school, where she felt safe and secure, she began to weep. She sat down on the bed and tried to bury her face in her hands.

Oh, how terribly alone she felt!

She wished she had Draco there to comfort her but then a thought occurred to her: would Draco be enough? Was she not desperate for the company of her family and of Harry and Ron and Ginny?

She wiped the pearly tears from her cheeks and blinked and looked around. The room struck no memories for her.

Maybe she could cast some form of Revealing Charm that would tell her where she was. She turned to the elm-wood bedside cabinet for her wand but it was not there. Then she remembered that it would be with her clothes. She picked the garments up one by one and shook them out. As she did, they seemed to give off dust made of a sparkly glittery substance. She had no idea what it was. She searched through all of her clothes and began to panic.

Her wand was gone.

Her pulse began to beat faster, her breaths seemed difficult to draw and a warning alarm was sounding in her head.

Wherever she was, she was unarmed and had no means of protecting herself.

Something disturbed her thoughts; someone was walking along to the door that was closed.

Without thinking or hesitating, she bolted back to bed and pulled the covers over her once again.

Just as she drifted her eyes closed, the door opened and someone walked in.

"No, she's asleep. But- what's this?"

"What?" another voice replied. It was deep and gravelly.

"She's moved her clothes about and all the Sleeping Powder's gone. Maybe she's tried them on and fallen back asleep. She's definitely been up."

"How can you tell?" The other voice was confused.

"I just can, it's my birth right. Don't sound so amazed. Who else would have moved her clothes? A priest?"

"They could have-"

"Idiot! There are no priests or bishops or ministers for _miles_! We are on the coast of the Irish Sea, twenty miles from all the nearest towns."

"No wonder we Apparate," the dim-witted one replied under his breath.

The door slammed shut and Hermione waited until she had heard them arguing outside before she dared to open her eyes. She had no idea who the two men had been but that wasn't all she was certain of. They were definitely wizards for they had spoken of Apparating and the talk of Sleeping Powder confirmed that she was being held under hostile conditions. But the coast of the Irish Sea? Who did she know who lived there?

The answer came to her slowly over the next day as she ticked off all of her friends, leaving the most obvious until last. 

"Draco."

He sat bolt upright in the cell and looked wildly around in the dark.

He swore he had heard someone say his name. Maybe it was a whisper carried on the wind from the Spencer wing of the house, where he heard Hermione was being kept.

A painful stab hit home when he thought of Hermione. It was his entire fault, why did he have to show her the secret room? Had they gone to the Astronomy Tower or just stayed in their own dorms they would be back in lessons as normal, ignoring each other in front of others. He wondered whether the school was sending out search parties day and night for them.

Of course they would be for Hermione, Harry, Ron, in fact all of Gryffindor and probably the teachers too would have noticed her disappearance immediately.

But what about him?

Who would notice he was gone? Frequently in the past his father would take him away from school for a day or two, to important Death Eater meetings, and no one had detected a thing.

But now that he was in dire need of help, so much so he had screamed for hours after his own father had thrown him in the dungeons under the house, not one person could come to his aide.

He lay back down on the bed his father had provided. In fact, Lucius Malfoy had almost shown a pure character by having a proper room made out of one of the cells the day before. He seemed to show some compassion for his son. Draco ran over the conversation in his mind once again, trying to analyse what had been said.

_"What are you doing here, Father?" Draco asked politely, trying to seem more surprised than horrified to see his own flesh and blood that he loathed so much standing before him._

_"I was vouched for by several important people who have a great deal of influence in society." Lucius's tone was flat and tired. His eyes were not though._

_"So you got out of Azka-"_

_"DO NOT MENTION THAT PLACE!" Lucius shouted, flaring up immediately and knocking his goblet to the floor in a fit of rage._

_"Alright," Draco retorted, trying not inject too much dislike into his own tone. "Why am I here? Another Death Eater Hold?"_

_"No, Draco. You have upset me deeply. It has come to my attention you are …" Lucius's expression was blank as he searched for the right words, "romantically active."_

_Draco was up from his chair in a second. "Who told you?"_

_Lucius laughed softly, sat back down opposite his son and pulled a wand out of his cloak. Draco felt a tug at his heart: it was Hermione's._

_"That's not yours," Draco said, more softly than Lucius had laughed. Lucius was almost impressed at the amount of hatred those three little words could contain. He marvelled at Draco's ability to be so like his father._

_"Indeed," he replied curtly and muttered something, waving the wand twice before Draco was forced back into his seat and bound by solid metal chains. Draco began to push against them furiously._

_"Let me go."_

_"No, Draco, I'm afraid I cannot allow you to roam around our house of your own accord. I do _not_ want that."_

_"Why not?"_

_"You might disappear or walk in on something you do not want to see."_

_"Like what?" Draco asked uncertainly, pausing his struggle against the chains that bound him to the hard wooden chair._

_"Your little love interest."_

_Draco faltered. He hadn't been expecting that._

_"Why wouldn't I want to see her?"_

_"Because you might be shocked by what we will do to her," Lucius said, soft tones of malicious intent lilting in his voice. Then he rose from his chair and left the room._

Draco felt his heart racing as he came out of the daze. He was breaking out in a nervous sweat against the cold drafts swooping down the stairs.

_The stairs._

How could he possibly see the stairs inside an invisible cell?

As the truth hit him, Draco nearly cried out with happiness. He rushed to the chair in the corner of the room and picked up his cloak. He automatically felt around for his wand and chided himself; of course, his father had taken it. He looked one last swift glance around the room for anything he might need before darting out of the door.

It had been left open by the house-elf who had brought his dinner. 

**Chapter Sixteen - the first part of the Final Trilogy**

_Warning Smoke_

Hermione had never felt so exhausted in her life. She had been wandering the huge manor for what seemed like days and had still found no sign of life. The portraits watched her suspiciously and she glared up at them as fiercely as she dared.

She turned around another of the huge corners and what greeted her sight blew her mind. A huge hall, which was entirely furnished in black except for the blood red curtains hanging from the tall and deep set windows. The hall was probably as large as the Great Hall back at school yet not even a tiny portion of how inviting Hogwarts' dining hall felt. This room would be inviting to one type of person only - a criminal.

Hermione descended the few steps leading into the hall and made a compromise to herself. I'll find a way out. I will. But I have to get through this maze first.

And, it was with a determined air that she started to creep through the hall, it's dome shaped ceiling echoing her every breath, amplifying her lightest step. 

Harry collapsed into the chair opposite Ron.

"No sign of her?" Ron asked weakly. Harry only just managed a tiny shake of his head and closed his eyes in despair. "Has Dumbledore tracked anything?"

"No."

"She'll be fine," a soft voice said from the table opposite them. It was Lavender. Ron ducked his head and became very interested with something on the floor.

"We hope so," Harry croaked.

Ron looked up sharply, someone had just burst into the library. "Your number one fan, Harry."

"Hullo, Colin," Harry said automatically. Something made him look up in concern though: Colin was breathing heavily.

"Ma- Ma-"

"What? What is it?" Ron asked, frowning.

"He's… He's gone too," the boy stuttered. The two boys looked concerned but that was all he could tell through his vision that was clouded by dancing spots.

"Who has?" Lavender asked.

"He… He… M-"

"Colin! Wake up!" 

Hermione leant forward and touched the glowing box very gently. It emitted a soft buzz and pulsed under her finger tips and then - suddenly - the glow snapped off. Hermione jumped and what felt like a tiny electric glow shivered up her arm. She knew somewhere deep down that she shouldn't be touching a glowing box that belonged to Lucius Malfoy, but it was so pretty, so _rare_. It almost seemed to shimmer under her very gaze and changed colour when she tilted her head at different angles.

With a great deal of effort, she pulled her attention away from it and continued down the hall. She became faintly aware of the glow returning to the box and felt a familiar tug at her heart - she desperately wanted to keep the box, to take it with her. Something about it was so enticing and stunning. She yearned for the feel of the soft velvet-like texture under her fingers again.

She realised that she was humming under her breath - the same note and monotonous tone that the box had made. It scared her and she carried on as quickly as she could, forcing herself not to look back.

Before, she had felt tired and lethargic, dragging her body as quickly as she could, as if she was under a trance. Yet now, she suddenly seemed alive and awake and stimulated - and she had a nasty feeling it was something to do with the box.

Hermione cleared her throat softly and reached for the hairtie she always kept around her wrist. As she started pulling her frizzy hair off her face, she suddenly and vividly remembered something Ginny had once said at dinner.

She had been putting her hair back, slowly, softly, lovingly wrapping the elastic around it. She had not willingly done it in a loving way, but she had been watching Draco chatting with his friends across the hall. Ginny cleared her throat loudly.

"Hermione," she said. Hermione looked up irritably, angry at being distracted from watching the Slytherin. Something about him really had been very enticing that day. _- Perhaps he had some sort of dark magical quality, like that box -_ "You're being very careful with that hair band."

Ron had snorted into his pumpkin juice and looked up apologetically when Hermione glared at him. "Sorry, but she's right. You've been trying to tie your hair back for about ten minutes."

"I'm just-" Hermione had caught her eyes wandering back to Draco. "- Distracted. Lots of work." She had gone red and muttered something about a Transfiguration essay and continued eating her breakfast. Ron and Harry had shared slightly worried looks. _Since when had Hermione been embarrassed about lots of work?_

She smiled half-heartedly, wondering what Ron and Harry were doing now. She missed them deeply, a deep aching hurt inside of her that was constantly there. She stopped in the middle of the hall and looked upwards. A shaft of light was trained on her, she couldn't tell whether it had been following her or if she had unknowingly stepped into the beam.

_Since when had she been embarrassed about work?_

She knew the answer. She wasn't embarrassed about work or school. She wasn't embarrassed about Draco either but she knew immediately she was scared about him. For him. It seemed so unfair she had to be so worried of other people's opinions in a place where she had really never cared before.

Suddenly, she noticed a song pouring out from a room on her left, up ahead of her. There was a piano being played very softly and someone was singing.

_I'm so tired of being here._

Hermione nodded in empathy. She desperately just wanted to be back at Hogwarts.

_Supressed by all my childish fears._

Hermione knew that her fears weren't childish but she was definitely supressed by what she was afraid of, it restricted her.

_And if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave. Because your presence still lingers here, and it won't leave me alone. These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real. There's just too much that time cannot erase. When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears. When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears..._

Everything seemed to be a blur. Harry couldn't remember the hospital wing this busy, ever. Almost twenty students, shielded by screens, were undergoing the same treatment Hermione had over a week before.

Ron shuddered somewhere next to him. "You alright, mate?" he asked, looking concerned. Harry shrugged.

"This is what happened to her, isn't it?"

Ron nodded with a grimace. "Do they know what it is yet?" he asked a passing Medi-wizard.

"I'm sorry, but we cannot release any details as of this-"

"Tell us," Ron snarled. Harry was taken aback. Ron was such a calm person and yet he was trembling, probably itching to reach forward and grab the afronted-looking Medi-wizard by the neck.

"I'm sorry, but I can't," the Medi-wizard replied, stepping back a foot or so, quaking under Ron's enraged glare. Harry stepped in quickly.

"Please? Our friend had this and... And, well, now she's disappeared."

"Oh, the Granger girl. Yes, we have our best wizards tracking her and the Malfoy boy to see where they may have disappeared to." And he rushed away before either of the two boys could ask him anything else.

Harry turned to Ron in horror. "What did he just say?"

"M- Malfoy's disappeared. That must have been what Colin was trying to tell us!" Ron suddenly seemed very awkward and hastily spoke again. "Well, what about Crabbe and Goyle? Pansy Parkinson? Would they know where he is?"

"We'll have to ask Pansy and Crabbe. Goyle's just down there." Harry gestured to the end of the ward, where Madam Pomfrey was pulling a curtain closed.

Ron's face showed his miserable realisation and resignedly, they set off to find Pansy. 

Hermione rounded the corner in a hurry, she had to find Draco and they had to get out.

"MUDBLOOD!" a voice screamed and she froze. "FILTH! MUDBLOOD! GET OUT! GET OOOUUUT!"

"MUDBLOOD! GET OUT! YOU ARE WRONGLY BROUGHT HERE! LEAVE!" More and more voices joined the first. Hermione's heart was beating fast in her chest, her breaths short and haggard. Something must have woken up the portraits, she realised. They obviously felt the same as Mrs Black had.

Running footsteps greeted her ears and she fled, not knowing where to go or who it was. She turned the next corner and-

"Oh my God!" a voice yelled as she hit into someone and they both tumbled to the floor. "I... Oh, you. Are you alright? Has my father hurt you?"

Hermione almost cried with relief and collapsed against Draco. He stiffened and she drew back hastily.

"What's wrong?"

"My father. He's close."

And for once that day, Hermione didn't feel she cared. She stretched up and kissed Draco softly and everything seemed to become a blur around them. Draco pulled back a little. "My father..." he muttered. Hermione kissed him again. It was Draco, _her_ Draco - the Draco she remembered. His lips were slightly rough on hers and he tasted of smoke and fresh rain and -

"Really, Hermione. We shouldn't stay here."

"Alright," she replied hastily and they helped each other up. It was only then that she noticed the portraits had stopped screaming. She offered her hand to Draco who ignored it. She watched him in concern, something seemed a little off.

"I need to give something to you," he said mechanically. She looked at him again, curiously. "Before we leave." A strange smile pulled at the corner of his lips and he covered it with a grimace. "It won't be easy, you know." He turned and looked straight at her, his eyes searching through hers. Something deep inside her hurt again, was scared again. Something definitely wasn't right. "We'll have to _run_."

The music came to a stop and that was only why she realised that it had still been playing. Everything was very quiet except for their soft steps on the hard stone floor.

"Alright, I'm ready for that." 

It was only when they reached the dungeons, that Harry and Ron realised they had no idea where the Slytherin common room was. Ron leant against the wall and sighed.

"Is there any point to this?" he asked frustratedly.

"Any point to what?" a voice asked from the shadows. Ron jumped and looked at - it was Pansy. "What do you want?" She came out of the shadowy corridor and glared at them. Her eyes were red.

"We - um, we were wondering if you knew where Malfoy was," Harry said. She looked at him sharply and he stepped backwards under her forceful gaze.

"What's it matter to you?" another voice grunted. It was Crabbe. He had his hands in his pockets and was looking highly irritated at the sight of them.

"We need to know," Ron said aggressively.

"Ron," Harry said. "Calm down. Look." He turned to the two Slytherins. "We need to know because Hermione's missing and they might be together."

"Why would they want anything to do with each other?" Pansy asked, looking disgusted.

"Well, erm," Harry faltered. "We don't know."

Ron muttered something to himself about secrecy being overrated.

"What?" Pansy asked, her expression interested.

"I can't say anything," Ron said determinedly.

"Why? What do you know?" Harry asked quickly. Ron avoided his gaze. "Ron?"

Ron took a deep breath, and began to explain. 

Draco paused by the glowing box. He pointed his wand at it and muttered something Hermione didn't quite catch. "I've taken the dark magic off it," he explained and handed it to her. Once again, she felt the little electric thrill and the glowing on the box stopped. "It's yours."

"Oh! Oh, Draco. I could never- I can't-"

"Take it," he said softly, putting his hand on top of it. Hermione watched, intrigued, as the box glowed bright blue, then red, then flipped open and released a hoard of acrid black smoke. She coughed and waved it out of her face to hear the words, "That represented my love for you." But the voice was not Draco's. It was icier, harder, full of malice and belonged to an adult. As the last of the smoke cleared, Hermione felt her heart skip a beat and then several more as Lucius Malfoy smiled down at her, still transforming back into himself.

He pulled out his wand at lightning speed and before Hermione knew what was happening, he was pointing it at the box and- "_Portus_," he whispered.

It was nothing more than a hiss and by the time Hermione realised exactly what was about to happen, it was too late to drop the box.

The ground had already disappeared from under her feet and the only thing she knew was Lucius was laughing maliciously as they were swept to a far away place. 

To be continued in part two, **Crackling Flames**...


End file.
